For Your Own Good
by readwritedance
Summary: Nearly 15 years ago, Ally ran away from Austin because she was pregnant. Now, she is a single mother to 13 year old Aubryn and Austin still doesn't know about his daughter. Will he ever know of Aubryn's existence?
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! This is my first fanfiction so we'll see where it goes... Anywho... On with the disclaimer...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Austin & Ally. Now, on with the story...**

**Ally POV**

"Bryn honey! It's already 7! You're going to be late if you don't hurry up!" I yell up the stairs to my daughter.

"I'm sorry, Mom. I'll be down in a second," I hear her sleepily respond.

"Okay, but your pancakes are getting cold," I shout back one more time, knowing that will get her down here faster than anything. Sure enough, in less than 30 seconds, I hear her come down the stairs two at a time. "Aubryn Harmony Dawson, how many times have I told you to not run down the stairs?" I reprimand her.

"Um... At least 392," she replies with a hint of sarcasm in her voice as she butters her stack of pancakes before adding syrup.

"Well, let's try not to reach 400". I tell her my proposal while I spoon some yogurt out into a bowl and pour out some granola to mix in. I join my daughter at the bar and we say a quick grace before digging in to our respective breakfasts.

10 minutes, two stacks of pancakes and a bowlful of yogurt later, I'm placing the dishes into the dishwasher while Bryn runs upstairs to finish getting ready. Since I'm already doing the dishes, I decide to go ahead and give the kitchen a quick clean. Right as I finish wiping off the last countertop, my phone chimes, signaling I have a new text. I quickly dry my hands off on a dish towel before grabbing and unlocking my phone. The text is from my second best friend. Even though I haven't seen her in a little less than 15 years, I'll always consider Trish de la Rosa my BFF. After Trish comes Elizabeth Coppage, AKA my second best friend AKA the person I just got a text from. I hurriedly scan the message after I saw the time on my home screen. All it said was "good morning", nothing that important. The important thing however was that my daughter was about to be late for the bus. She must have realized that also because I hear her coming down the stairs, once again two at a time.

"393," I tell her as she rushes by me on a hunt for her bag. "Your bag is in the foyer and your lunch is waiting on the counter," I call to her.

"Thanks Mom," she respond kissing my cheek on her way out.

"Have a great day," we both say at the same time.

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><p>"Ally!" I hear an unmistakable voice call out as a person enters the house.<p>

"In my bedroom Lizzy!" I shout back. A loud thud resonates throughout the house as Liz drops her bags in the foyer and then walks up the steps and enters my room.

"Hey! How have you been?" I turn around and ask her before going back to the mirror to pull my hair into a decent ponytail.

"I'm good. Nothing much has happened since I last saw you on Friday."

"Same. Well, I got to get going. I'll see you tonight then," I tell her. Even though Aubryn doesn't need "babysat" anymore, Elizabeth still comes in the afternoons on weekdays to be there when Bryn gets home since I'm at work. I work at a restaurant. It sounds like a pretty crappy job that doesn't pay too much but it's actually a very expensive place to eat at and the manager treats us employees well. "Bye Lizzy".

"Bye Ally! See you soon!"

* * *

><p>"Hello! My name is Ally and I'll be serving you on this fine evening. What would you like to drink?" I greet a couple that just say down at one of my tables. Business tonight isn't to terribly fast but it could be slower for my liking. I write down their orders and hurry on to the next table. After making to about 4 other tables, I head over to the kitchen to give the orders to the chefs and get drinks for some customers. Once I deliver the drinks to the right people, I scurry back to the kitchen and grab the food that was ready for a certain table. This for me is pretty much normal. Thankfully, I don't tire easily and I'm able to get through the night without a problem. By the time I get home, it's 11 o'clock and Aubryn should be in bed. But knowing her, she's probably on her phone doing who knows what. I trust her though. Bryn is an incredibly smart and obedient young lady and she wouldn't do anything that could get her into trouble.<p>

I slowly unlock the front door of my house and step into the foyer. I remove my black tennis shoes and set my bag down before continuing on into the guest room. Or as I call it, the place where Lizzy crashes. I shake her awake before heading into the kitchen to grab a small snack.

"Hey," Lizzy says sleepily walking in.

"Hi," I chuckle back.

"Listen I don't know what it is but I'm a lot more tired than usual. I think I might head home unless you need me," Lizzy states.

"It's fine. Go home. Do you need me to drive you?"

"No it's okay. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye Ally".

"Bye Liz". I reply before ushering her out the door. I shut and lock it before turning around and heading up to my bedroom. I pause at Bryn's room and say a quiet "goodnight" and then continue on to the door at the end of the hall. I softly open it and step inside the room before turning on the light. I go about my nightly routine and then I pull back the covers and get ready to get into the bed. However, before I do, I see a beautiful diamond ring. A ring that brings back a whole lot of memories...

**The next chapter will be a flashback. So, if you're confused, hopefully you won't be by the end of the next chapter. Please review... just remember I have feelings too. :)**

**-Reagan Maree**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's Chapter 2! This is a flashback. I tried to make it obvious when each part took place. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Austin & Ally**

* * *

><p><strong>Ally's POV:<strong>

_I blink once, twice. I squint at the item in my hands, hold it up to the light, do anything I can to have proof that my future has really just been altered dramatically. Sighing, I remove all evidence of my most recent life development. I've read too many books and seen too many shows where the significant other founds out about the pregnancy by seeing the remains of the test. That absolutely cannot happen to me. After properly disposing all evidence, I grab my phone and call the doctor's office to set up an appointment. As soon as I determine how far along I am, I'll be packing my bags and leaving for some random place in the middle of nowhere. I can't harm Austin's career with a child. If we were already married, I'd be dialing him up right now telling him the great news. Unfortunately, we've been engaged for about 5 months and have no idea when the wedding will be. So, looks like I'm off to... I don't know where..._

_I walk into the doctor's office and become nearly blinded by the reflection of the sun off my stunning engagement ring. Just have to remind me don't you ring? Last night, after plenty of tossing and turning, I decided not to tell anyone about my child and head off to Valley, Nebraska. I already got the essentials I needed for my new life packed this morning and I'll be off in the next two hours._

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><p><em>"Congratulations!" exclaim the doctor and nurses around me. "Here's your baby girl!" I'm handed a tiny bundle of screams. <em>

_"Hi sweet pea! I'm your mommy. I love you more than anything else in this world," I murmur this and other soothing things to her and she soon calms down._

_"Do you have a name picked out?" one of the nurses asks._

_"Aubryn Harmony Dawson," I reply. I chose Aubryn in honor of Austin because it sounds similar to his name and I think it's gorgeous anyways and Harmony for a nod to our musical background. I know a lot of people would expect me to give her the last name Moon but I don't want her to get any ideas on who her father is. After all, Moon isn't a common last name. I'll probably tell her sooner or later, but when she's younger, I want to protect her._

_As the nurses take care of Aubryn, I relax and take a trip down memory lane: _

_After my doctor's appointment, I drove the excruciatingly long drive from Florida to Nebraska and bought a little apartment there. My neighbor was a girl my age and we soon became friends. She helped me adjust to my life and I'm so happy we met. Before I changed my phone number, I texted all my loved ones in Miami telling them I was fine and I left for their own good. I did interviews for a couple of jobs and landed a secretary job to start after I had Aubryn. I would start 3 months after she was born. As far as Austin and my disappearance with the press went, ehh. Austin didn't play any concerts or release any music for about 4 months. Everyone told the media that I went to visit my aunt because she had cancer and it was unknown when I would be back. Austin is now back at his job and if he feels anything, he's doing a superb job hiding it. In a few months, I'm going to get a tattoo. I would've gotten it the second I ran away if I wasn't pregnant. I've decided to get a little crescent moon on my left ring finger in honor of Austin (it's a moon like his last name...). It will go in place of the engagement ring. I didn't give him the ring back; I have it on my dresser. I'm never going to forget Austin and the only thing I have (other than Aubryn of course) is the ring and soon the tattoo._

* * *

><p><em>"Mommy! Mommy! I hungry!"<em>

_"What would you like to eat? Mommy needs to go to work and Aunt Lizzy is coming over soon so it needs to be quick"_

_"Pancakes!"_

_I was 98% sure she was going to say that so I had already got the ingredients for the pancakes out. About 5 minutes into the pancake-making process, my next-door-neighbor-friend Lizzy enters my apartment._

_"I'm back!" she calls. _

_"Aunt Lizzy! Aunt Lizzy! Guess what!" Bryn yells running up to her for a hug._

_"What?" Liz replies with excitement engulfing my daughter in a big hug._

_"Mommy's makin' pancakes!"_

_I laugh at her eagerness. "Hey Liz, how are you?"_

_"Good. I'll finish this. You finish getting ready," she offers nodding toward my outfit. I'm still in sweatpants and a tank top. I finished my hair and make up but I was interrupted by Bryn before I could change. The joys of having a four-year-old. I rummage through my closet and pick out khaki pants and a nice green and tan floral shirt. I add my sea-foam green flats and a diamond necklace before going back into the kitchen to grab my purse, phone and keys and tell the other two girls goodbye._

_I step outside into the warm, summer air and unlock my car. I've had the same secretary job since I had Aubryn and I've gotten some raises that allow me to have a car and other luxuries like that. My drive to and from work is usually when I reflect on my life._

_I'm a 25-year-old, financially stable, single mother. Luck must've been with me. Aubryn was born with brown hair similar to mine so it's easy to say she's mine without being asked who the dad is. I feel like it would be a bit harder to explain if she had blonde hair like her father. Speaking of her father, Austin is doing fine. He branched out into acting two years ago. He's moved on from me and is going steady with one of his co-stars. I should probably be jealous but I'm actually very happy that I didn't leave him depressed and that he is able to continue life. Whenever someone asked about me, he would say we broke up privately and have gone our separate ways._

_ Aubryn's a little ball of energy. She loves music and art. Every now and then she'll ask about her dad and I tell her that he's very busy and can't visit. She buys it but I'm kind of worried for her when school starts and she meets all these other kids who have dads. _

_Then there's Trish and Dez, the other half of Team Austin. Trish is the manager of many well-known people, including Austin. Dez has directed a ton of movies and has a lot of awards to prove it. He, of course, is still Austin's best friend and video director._

_There's also Lizzy. Elizabeth Coppage has been the best thing that happened to me since Aubryn. The second she met me, she "took me under her wing". She helped me get furniture for the apartment, find a job and is amazing with Aubryn. Liz watches Bryn for free so I can go to work to be able to pay for our apartment, groceries, and luxuries. She doesn't pester me about Aubryn's father and just goes with the flow. If I ever needed help in any form or fashion, she'd be the first to contribute. _

* * *

><p><em>"How was the first day of third grade?" I ask my 8-year-old.<em>

_"It was good, Mommy. Rylie Cate and Hunter are in my class again." Rylie Cate and Hunter have been Aubryn's two best friends since kindergarten. They don't judge Aubryn for not having a father and their parents don't judge me for being a young, single mom._

_"That's great sweetie! Okay, Aunt Lizzy should be here in a second and then I'm going to go to work. There's a snack sitting on the dining room table for you," I inform her and head over to the table by the front door to gather my stuff together for work. As I set my bag down, I get hit by the front door opening. _

_"Thanks Liz," I tell my best friend sarcastically without even turning around. I know it's her; she does this everyday without fail._

_"You're welcome Ally!" She replies, purposely ignoring my sarcasm. Continuing on a serious note, she warns me, "Listen, you probably already heard about this, but Austin's going to be in Omaha in a few days for his tour". Austin came once before when Bryn was 6. I had to enlist Lizzy's help to keep away from him. Of course, she deserved an explanation as to why I needed her help so I told her about Austin. She took the news that her niece was Austin Moon's daughter quite well. Austin and I had kept our relationship pretty low-key, so not a lot of people - including Liz - knew who I was and that I was engaged to THE Austin Moon. So, she hadn't recognized me when she first met me. _

_"Thanks Liz, I did realize that, I'm just going to hope that he'll stay in Omaha and not venture out. Nevertheless, I arranged to not have to work on the days he's here. Aubryn will still go to school. I don't think anyone, including Austin, would put 2 and 2 together if they saw her. Dawson is a pretty common last name. Anyhow, Aubryn went to the dining room for her snack. I'll see you at 11," I inform Elizabeth. I walk over to the dining room and poke my head around the wall. "Bye sweetie. Sleep well. I'll see you tomorrow morning," I tell her._

_"Bye Mommy! See you tomorrow." She responds. I kiss her cheek and head out the door, telling Liz "bye" on my way out. _

_I'm heading to my quasi-new job. Last year, the company I worked for as a secretary went out of business and I had to find a new job. Luckily, I found work at a 5 star restaurant that treats its employees well. Since I have the money, I'm planning on moving to an actual house. Bryn and I have lived in the same apartment since I got here. I've already looked at a few houses and when my lease expires in January, we'll move. I'm really excited. _

_In other news, Austin Moon is engaged to the co-star he's been dating on and off for five years. I'm quite proud of him. No one knows when their wedding is, but they've been engaged for about a year and a half. We'll see how that ends..._

* * *

><p>Gosh, so much has happened in these 13 years. I look at the ring that's been sitting on my dresser for that same amount of time. It brings back so many memories.<p>

4 years ago, I bought a house and Aubryn and I moved in. Liz got married to her long time boyfriend and moved in with him. So, gone are the apartments that helped start our amazing friendship. However, she still comes over every afternoon to stay with Aubryn even though Bryn is old enough to babysit someone else. I think Aubryn just likes the company. After all, I work from 3-11pm every day except Saturday and Sunday.

Then there's Team Austin. Trish is still (shocker) a manager along with being a well-known person in the fashion industry. Dez has directed so many popular movies but still stays close to home by directing all of Austin's music videos. Austin. He and his fiancé split 4 years ago and now he's dating a different co-star. There are even rumors they're engaged. Third time's the charm right? I told Aubryn about her father. Sort of. I didn't tell her who her father is but I told her that I left him for his own good. Since Austin doesn't talk to my parents anymore, I introduced them to Aubryn when she was 10. They usually visit every Christmas. I'm glad I can talk to them again after a decade of silence.

Tiredly, I roll over and catch a glimpse of the time. It's already after midnight. I must've been in the past for over an hour. I drift off to sleep thinking about what the future holds in store for Aubryn and myself.

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><p><strong>Well, that's Chapter 2! Thank you so much for reading. So, I was wondering who's POV's should I do? I'm not sure if I want to keep it strictly Ally's or if I want to add in Austin's andor Aubryn's. What do y'all think? Anyhow, please review!**

**~Reagan Maree**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi! How was y'alls Monday? I hate Monday's. As it turns out, since we were off school for five days because of the snow, we have a test or quiz in just about every class tomorrow. Anyhow, I doubt y'all really care. Here's Chapter 3.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Austin & Ally**

**Austin's POV:**

"And that's a wrap!" I hear my music video director and best friend Dez call. Shouts of happiness fill the room we're currently in. For the past few days, we've been filming a music video for a song that means a lot to me. It's a song that everyone, including my girlfriend , thinks is for my girlfriend. Actually, it's for my first fiancé Alessia Melodie Dawson; but no one knows that. I love my current girlfriend, Abigail Stafford and I loved my second fiancé, Sarah Morris. I just love my first fiancé more than either of them. I think Sarah realized this. I was never 100% committed to her. A little part of me will always be attached to Ally, whether I see her again or not. Abbie on the other hand is completely oblivious to the fact that I sometimes start to call her Ally instead of Abbie or that I sometimes zone out and seem distracted beause I'm thinking of the "good ol' days".

Ally never told me what made her leave. The only thing she told me after she left was: "I'm sorry I had to go. It wasn't anybody's fault but mine so, I'm leaving for your own good. I will never forget or stop loving any of you guys. Love, Ally". I memorized that text. I tried to respond but she must've ignored it and then changed her number shortly thereafter. She never did give me her engagement ring back, so hopefully that means she didn't leave me for someone else...

For 4 months after she left, I didn't do anything. She was my life. I didn't go all depressed and suicidal, but I wasn't the fun loving energetic person everyone knows me as. I didn't release any music, write any music, or do any concerts. Dez took the personal responsibility to change his attitude and wardrobe so as to help me. Trish and Dez were also melancholic and laid off the fighting for awhile. That helped more than anything. After all, Ally was the peacekeeper and I would never be able to stop them from killing each other.

Since Ally didn't like all the hate and publicity she got from being my girlfriend, not a lot of people knew about our relationship. Of course, somehow somebody heard something from their brother who heard something from their aunt, who heard something from their next door neighbor's daughter's classmate that I was dating Ally Dawson; so, it got out to some of the media. After that, whenever Ally and I were out and about (which wasn't often), the paparazzi went berserk. Naturally, when there was no sign of "Auslly" as it was apparently called, the world seemed to end. I had to tell the press that Ally went to help her aunt because her aunt had cancer. I couldn't just say, "Oh yeah, my fiancé just wanted to pack up leave with just about no explanation and I have to act like I'm totally fine with it". Telling everyone that lie was one of the hardest things to ever say. For the next few years, I thought I saw her everywhere I looked. It started to lessen a bit, but every now and then, I'll still have a hallucination.

"Hey Austin! How's my favorite man doing right now?" My girlfriend walks into my makeshift dressing room breaking me out of my daydream. She's wearing a lilac purple dress and a light pink cardigan. She paired it with a nude purse and pair of heels. She looks sophisticated, stunning, and nothing like Ally. Ally wouldn't care what she was wearing. She wouldn't try to impress anybody. She could be dressed in gardening clothes and still look far better than Abbie. Gosh Austin! Stop it. Focus on Abbie, forget about Ally.

"Al- bbie! Abbie! How are you? How was Paris? I haven't talked to you face to face since before you left 2 weeks ago!" I come over and kiss her, thinking of what it was like to kiss Ally instead. Wait! Snap out of it Austin. You won't see Ally ever again. Just be happy with Abbie! We break apart before hugging.

"Hey! Austin! We need to get going. We have a meeting with Jimmy remember?" Dez calls running in."Oh yeah. I totally forgot about that. Abbie, I'll text you later. Let's meet for dinner tomorrow night, so we can catch up." I tell my girlfriend, giving her a chaste kiss before grabbing my coat and belongings and heading out the door to my car.

* * *

><p>The whole story behind my love life is kind of complicated:<p>

Two years after Ally left, I started acting. On one of my movies, I met Sarah Morris, a talented actress who played my character's love interest. The on-screen romance turned out to be also off-screen. We dated on and off for 3 years before I proposed to her. We were engaged for nearly 2 years and we never set a wedding date. Sarah knew that something was up with our relationship; that I wasn't fully committed. I wasn't technically cheating on her... I just really missed Ally. We decided it would be better for us to call off the engagement and go our separate ways.

Later that year, on the set of a different movie, I met Abigail Morris. We instantly hated each other and the only reason we would ever talk would be for the movie. The next year, I ended up finding myself on a different movie set with none other than Abbie. We decided to restart our relationship, and this time we really hit off. We've dated for two years and I'm considering proposing to her. Some rumor got out that I already proposed and all that jazz. I really don't know if I should. My mind isn't with the rest of my life. It's about a decade and a half behind. I need to seriously consider the future of my love life.

My career on the other hand already has it's future mapped out perfectly. Even though Ally was and probably always will be considered my songwriter, I'm capable of writing my own songs. I started to do just that and went ahead with my music. Since all this started, I've gone on 3 U.S tours and a world tour.

I thought acting would help me get my mind off other things and I fell in love with it. There's not much to say about that except that I've become a triple threat and am now one of the most famous people in the world. Not to brag or anything. Gosh that sounded bad. I've starred in many movies and had supporting roles in even more. I've also guest starred on quite a few TV shows. I've even been offered my own show but I knew that would be career suicide. Trying to juggle music along everything that comes with that and a TV show and all that comes along with that? Nope. I'm Austin Moon. I might be 34, but I'm still a 15 year old on the inside. I'm not ready for that big of a commitment. I'm more focused on the music than the acting.

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><p>I pull up into the parking lot of Starr Records, Dez right on my tail. We get out of our cars simultaneously and walk up to the glass double doors. When we open up the doors, Christie, the secretary, glances up from her work.<p>

"Hey guys! Jimmy and Trish are already waiting on you in Jimmy's office," she informs us.

"Thanks Chris, see you in a few hours," I hear Dez reply. Once we're out of a ear shot, I ask him, "A few hours...? What is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, she's helping me organize my office. You know, since she's a secretary and all."

"Oh... Yeah right. You have fun with that buddy." We arrive at Jimmy's door.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Come on in. Austin Moon and Dez-" Jimmy welcomes us and leaves his sentence hanging. Dez is one of those people that are only known by their first name.

"Oh. It's Dez-"

Trish cuts my best friend off before he can continue, "Yeah, yeah. About time, I've got a plane to London to catch in three hours. Let's get this over with." Trish and Dez lessened the fighting after Ally left, but Trish can still be very controlling and downright terrifying at times.

"Sorry Trish. We got a bit behind today with the shoot, and-"

"I really don't care, you're here now," Trish interrupts.

"You really enjoy interru-" Dez starts.

"Yeah I do. Now sit down and shut up".

"Yes Ma'am," Dez and I obey instantly. Jimmy just watched this banter with amusement. This is routine for us.

"Okay, Austin. I'm very proud of you. A new single and music video, along with a movie coming up? You definitely deserve a break. We're giving you three weeks to do whatever you want. No work obligations," Jimmy starts.

"Oh my gosh! Thank you so much! I really needed a break. Is that all you needed to talk to me about?" I exclaim.

"No not exactly see..." Jimmy continues on about what's coming up for my career and so on and so forth. An hour and a half later, we all get up and shake hands and Team Austin (minus Ally of course) leaves Jimmy's office and heads towards the building's entrance.

"So Austin, how are you going to spend your vacation?" Trish asks.

"I'm not sure. I'll probably spend some time with Abbie before going somewhere nice. Maybe somewhere we went on tour. Ooh. What about Pennsylvania, or Illinois, or Nebraska? Maybe even Utah. Utah was nice wasn't it?" I answer Trish being a little discursive.

"Really, you're going to stay in the states? You should go to Europe. Or Australia."

"I don't know Trish, I kind of just want to be normal. Maybe I'll go somewhere quiet. I really did like Nebraska. And Utah. I think it's between Utah and Nebraska. Hey, where'd Dez go?" Trish and I were already in the parking lot.

As if he heard my question, Dez walks out with Christie, "Great I'll see you in an hour."

"Wait. Is something happening between you two?" Trish asks looking incredulous.

"No. She's helping me organize my office!" Dez throws up his hands in exasperation. "And don't you have a plane to catch?"

"Crap. I'll see you guys later. Austin, have a good vacation. I still think you should go out of country but whatever," Trish hurriedly steps into her car and zooms off toward the airport.

"Well buddy, have a good break. I'll probably see you during it but still."

"Great Dez. Have a good time 'organizing your office' with Christie." I put air quotes around "organizing your office" and then open my car door. I start the engine and head toward the road, leaving an annoyed and perlexed Dez in my wake.

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><p>When I get home, I text Abbie the news. I've decided to spend the first few days with her. She has some business thing to go to in four days anyway. Then, I'll head to some quiet place. I'm really thinking Utah or Nebraska. I get online and check airfare prices for Utah and for Nebraska. Nebraska seems cheaper and overall better. I click purchase. Looks like I'm spending the next 2 12 weeks in Omaha, Nebraska and surrounding areas.

**Chapter 3! I'm so sorry I write such small chapters! I write them on my phone before going through a long process to upload them here because I don't own my own computer and I have to steal my mom's. The chapter's seem so long on my phone, but then they end up being so short. So, I'm sorry for the little chapters! On the bright side, I've updated every 3 ish days...? Does that make it better? **

**By the way, apparently "Loud" was played in the stadium at the Super Bowl last night. Did any one get to hear it there? Chapter 4 should be up by Thursday!**

**~ RM **


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey! Well, it's Thursday and I said I would update, so here is Chapter 4! I don't want to hold y'all from reading this chapter so please make sure you read the AN after the chapter because that's where I will make some announcements!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Austin & Ally!**

**Aubryn's POV **

Beep. Beep. Beep. Be-.

My alarm clock starts beeping and I lazily roll over to slam it off before snuggling back under my snow-white comforter. In less than five seconds, my eyes are closed and I'm back off in dreamland. In today's dream, Aubryn has a dad! Of course, this is a dream and those rarely come true.

Right about the time my dream finally reaches the good part, I hear my mother yell up at me, "Aubryn Harmony! I let you sleep in a little because it's Monday, but if you don't come down soon, there won't be any pancakes left."

This of course got me out of bed. Apparently, my father LOVED pancakes. I didn't think that type of thing was hereditary but I guess it is since I REALLY like pancakes. Every Monday, my Mom will make me pancakes because... well, it's Monday.

"I'm coming down as soon as I get changed! Please don't do anything to the pancakes!" I rush around grabbing clothes and accessories. I quickly put on some dark rinse skinny jeans, a black shirt and a black cardigan and add an infinity scarf that looks like a world map. I put in some pearl earrings and put my hair up into a ponytail. No time for fancy hairstyles, I have a stack of pancakes that are threatened to be removed waiting on me downstairs. Hastily I put my comforter and sheets back on top of the bed semi-decent. I throw my pillows on top. A white one that matches my comforter, a grey one that matches my sheets underneath the comforter, and a white fuzzy throw pillow. I grab my pajamas and throw them down the laundry shoot before heading down the stairs. I don't need to have Mom mad at me for skipping stairs. The fate of my breakfast is up to her. Thankfully, there are pancakes at my place at the bar. The syrup and butter are already on them, just the way I like it. I bow my head for grace before digging in.

* * *

><p>"Bryn! Hey Bryn! Did you see that text I sent you last night?" My friend Rylie Cate calls out and then walks carefully over to me.<p>

"Yes Ry, I did. I asked my mom and she said I could go, just to be back by curfew," I respond.

"Hey girls. How were your weekends?" Another one of my best friends, Hunter catches up to us and asks Rylie and me his question as we head into the school building.

"Fine," we say in unison. He nods, scanning the crowded hallway. I see his eyes light up which means he must've spotted our other best friend, Penton.

It originally started out as Rylie and Hunter. They'd been inseparable since birth and act like brother and sister. Then, in kindergarten, I met them and we hit right off. Mom likes them because their families don't have anything against us for being a family without a male figure. In third grade, Penton transferred from Atlanta, Georgia and we added him into the group. Hunter was probably the happiest to finally have another guy to talk to when we're together.

"Hey guys! Are we still on for tonight? We've got to get that stupid science project over with," starts Penton walking up to us.

"Yup"

"You know it"

"Yeah"

"Great! I'll meet you guys at our usual spot at 3:50," he finishes. The warning bell rings signaling we only have five minutes to go to our lockers and be seated in homeroom. We all dash off in different directions, leaving shouts of "see you soon" in our wake. Thankfully, my locker is right by where we just were. I spin my combination, 17-35-07, and jiggle the lock. The door pops open and I deposit some belongings and withdraw the materials I need for my first two classes. Slamming my locker shut, I hurriedly grab my stuff and walk at an extremely brisk pace to my homeroom class.

I walk in and I'm seated at my assigned seat smiling and nodding to some of my other friends with seconds to spare.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

And another day starts. We go through the morning announcements, say the pledge, and have a moment of silence AKA catch up time with friends through facial expressions. Finally, the principal tells us to have a good day and signs off the PA system. Pretty soon, the bell goes off again and I get up to move to my assigned seat for first period. My first period and homeroom classes are in the same room.

Mrs. Flowers starts droaning on about scatter plots. I'm a straight A student and I currently have an 100 in this class. Math is just SOO boring. 55 minutes later, the bell rings and I go to my 2nd period and first class that has my friends in it. My English teacher is a lot more lenient and when she gave us our seats, she put Penton, Rylie, and me together with another guy who's on the soccer team with Pen. We goof off until Mrs. Jacobs walks into the room and tells the class to settle down. Currently in English, we're reading Gone With The Wind **(don't own but I LOVE it)**. Yeah. We're reading it "in partnership" with Georgia History since we're studying the Civil War in that class. Gone With The Wind is the longest book, but it's really good. We're going to watch the movie when we're done. Surprisingly, everyone's being very mature about the book and some things that are mentioned.

After reading about 10 pages and stopping and discussing every five seconds, we're given our homework (finish the chapter we're on) and permission to pack up. Pen, Ry and I split up and head to our lockers. I put away my math binder and English binder and grab out my gym clothes and chorus music. Someone taps my shoulder and I turn around to find Rylie standing next to me waiting semi-patiently for me so we can go to chorus together.

Mrs. Nelson welcomes us and we start with some vocal warm ups before delving into the music we're working on for our Spring Concert. I love singing from the bottom of my heart. Mom and Dad do too. Mom told me that my father is a very famous man and she made the decision to leave him and his career unharmed. That means I have a celebrity for a parent. But which one? I've gone through long lists of men that are about my moms age but I don't know who he could be. Mom says that if I ever were to meet him, he would love me just as much as she does. There's a little tattoo on her left ring finger that she got to represent my father. However, it's a little crescent moon and unless he's an astronaut or something like that, I've got no idea what it means. Aunt Lizzy knows who my father is. Why can't I? I feel Rylie glancing at me and I know I need to focus. This is my favorite class of the day. Music allows me to forget about all the bad things in my life and it helps me feel like I have a father who's at work and will be home for supper. But that's not true. As soon as the bell rings, I'll be brought back into reality. Sure enough, here I am. Now, I'm heading to PE where I'll see Penton and Hunter.

I head into the girls locker room and twist in my lock combination. I change and then head out to my spot on the gym floor. Since our last names are so close together alphabetically, I sit behind Hunter Carson who sits behind Penton Butler. Role is called and then we warmup. After jogging around the gym 3 times, everyone disperses to places around the gym where different things are set up. I head over to play volleyball with a couple of other girls. In no time at all, the students go back to the locker rooms and change and get ready for fifth period. The usual routine happens once again: the bell rings, I go to my locker, I drop off my choral music and gather my Spanish binder and textbook and my Georgia History binder and my lunch, Hunter comes to my locker, together we go to Rylie Cate's locker and then the three of us head to "la clase de espanol".

Señora Lester welcomes us and we get into a line to go to the lunchroom. Hunter gets into the lunch line by Penton and Rylie and I sit down at our usual table. I open up my lunchbox and start eating. About halfway through my sandwich, I see two people plunk their lunches down across the table from Ry and me. I look up to find Penton staring at the brownie I have saved for dessert.

"No."

"Just a little bit? Half of the little bit? A quarter of the little bit? A crumb?"

"If your lucky".

"Please, please, please?"

"Penton! I'll bring you a whole brownie tomorrow. Okay? Just stop begging."

The rest of lunch passes by quickly and as we get up to throw away our trash, Penton reminds me about the brownie.

We arrive back at spanish class and start our warm up before learning about conjugating irregular verbs. Oh joy! Hunter and Rylie are fighting in less than a minute over the conjugation of the verb "oir". Thankfully, our good friend Google **(don't own)** comes in to save the day. As it turns out, neither of them were right. What else is new? Both of them are so smart until they start bickering with each other.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

Time for Georgia History. Penton and I have this class together. Today, we have a substitute. I've always hated substitutes. I really like routine and that goes out the window when the teacher is out. Plus, I really like Mr. Harbin. He's probably my favorite teacher because he's incredibly laid back and he makes the most boring class of the day as interesting as he can. The sub is ancient and has no idea what's supposed to be happening. Sixth period drags on and I'm pretty sure we'll graduate before we get out of this class. However, that is thankfully not the case and soon thereafter I'm at my locker putting books and binders into my backpack. I walk into science and sit down with Pen, Ry, and Hunter at our group table. As I rifle through my backpack, looking for my science binder, Ms. Sumners gives us a couple of reminders and then we get started on our science project. Us four are working together on a project about sound waves. We're heading to Penton's house after school's over to finish it since it's due on Friday and today is the only day we can all get together.

Penton and I withstand 55 minutes of arguing from Rylie and Hunter and brace ourselves for another two hours of it. We both breathe a sigh of relief when we're dismissed to go to our lockers if we haven't already. I trail after Rylie and as she pulls out her backpack we start discussing fashion. She of course looks stunning in her black shirt tucked into a bright Aztec tribal skirt. Rylie Cate is the fashionista. She rarely wears pants, only dresses and skirts. I, on the other hand, usually grab whatever looks appealing. However, whenever she has a chance, Rylie will make my "appealing outfit" look so much better. Hunter's the "preppy" guy and he always dresses nicely. Penton on the other hand, he is to Hunter as I am to Rylie, except worse. He plays a ton of sports and is constantly wearing athletic shorts and Nike **(don't own)** shirts. However, our styles all fit our personality and looks.

I'm 5' 5" with medium-length, thick, dark, dark, DARK brown hair and pale skin. I've got brown eyes like mom and apparently dad.

Rylie is 5' 4" and she loves to wear heels to make her look taller. She's got long, beach-blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, and her natural tan completes her "California Girl" look, even though we live in Nebraska. A great word for her would be "girly girl". She hates sports, unless she's watching them, and loves anything that has to do with clothing. Her role model is a fashion designer named Trish de la Rosa. What makes Trish even better? She's Austin Moon's manager. Austin Moon has been Ry's celebrity crush since before she was born. I like his music and acting and sure I guess he's a little cute, but I really don't like his fan base and how the poor guy's face is on anything and everything. Rylie tried to drag me to his concert he had here when we were eight but mom said no. She never said exactly why.

Next in the friend line up would be Hunter. Hunter is 5' 7" and like I said before, preppy. But it's a good preppy. He's more of a well dressed kind of preppy. He's on the football team but that's as far his range of playing sports goes. However he LOVES watching sports. Oh my gosh. It's impossible to get anything done involving Hunter if there's a game being played in front of him. He's got a brown buzz cut and green eyes with little brown specks in them.

Like Hunter, Penton is 5' 7" but that's really where the similarities end. Pen sleeps, breathes, and eats sports, but mainly soccer. Soccer is how he "expresses" himself. Yeah Aubryn, let's just go all therapeutic and use fancy, official-sounding words. Penton has shaggy, dirty blonde hair that he always is flipping out of his face. His eyes are a lighter brown than mine, more of a hazel. He's got a splatter of freckles that are constantly present on his cheeks and the bridge of his nose.

I love all my friends dearly and would do anything to keep them safe.

"Hey girls," Pen and Hunter walk over to where we're standing at Rylie's locker. Rylie turns around, shutting her locker as she does so. We shoulder out backpacks higher and head out to where Mrs. Butler, Penton's mom, is waiting on us. A chorus of "hellos" are thrown her way as we step into the mini van.

* * *

><p>We toss our backpacks in the foyer and allow our noses to follow the delicious smell wafting into the kitchen. In the kitchen is a plate of chocolate chip cookies. We all grab a cookie before heading back for our backpacks and then downstairs to the basement. We goof off for a few minutes before settling down to do the task before us. Two hours, way too many cookies, and a lot of hard work later, Mrs. Butler comes down to tell us that she talked to our parents and we're invited to stay for dinner, which was ready. We all trek up the stairs and to our usual seats at the dining room table. Eating at the others' houses is extremely common so we all have our regular seats at each family's dining table. Mrs. Butler prepared a delicious, mouth-watering concoction of chicken fettuccine alfredo. I dig in excitedly. I love pasta nearly as much a pancakes.<p>

An hour later, Rylie and I get up to help Mrs. Butler clean up while Penton, Hunter, and Mr. Butler discuss sports. What else would they talk about? At 7:30, the four of us go back down to the basement to clean up our mess and gather our belongings. We all pile back in the minivan and get dropped off one at a time. When it's my turn, I thank Mrs. Butler and say bye to Penton and Hunter as Rylie Cate had already been dropped off. I walk up the pathway to our house and open the door to find Aunt Lizzy sitting on the couch watching the news with a furrowed brow.

"Hey Aunt Lizzy, I'm home. What's wrong?" I ask her nodding towards the TV screen.

"Hey sweetie. I was just watching the news and you know how depressing that can be," she replies back keeping her eyes trained on the news reporter's.

"Oh gosh Ally," she mumbles and then "Where's my phone?" a bit louder. She finds it and triumphantly holds it up before her fingers start flying across the keyboard. While she texts, I watch the news report. What's so bad about Austin Moon?

"... And will be in Omaha, Nebraska on a vacation for the next 2 weeks. Sources say he left Miami, Sunday night and will be leaving Nebraska in two Saturdays," the woman continued. Just then my phone chimes and I pull it out, revealing a text from Rylie Cate with the following message:

"OMG! AUSTIN MOON IS GOING 2 B 22 MINS AWAY FROM US 4 2 WKS!"

I respond: "calm down Ry! No one likes a crazy fan girl." I smile and replace my phone in my back pocket. Aunt Lizzy has her eyes back on the screen, which reminds me: What does Mom have to do with Austin Moon? I shrug and head upstairs. I already finished my homework at Penton's so I get on my tablet and start to get sucked into my book. Before I know it, it's time for me to get ready for bed. I grab a towel and head into the light yellow bathroom adjoining my room. After starting some music on my phone and turn on the water, I step out of my clothes and jump into the shower. I wet my hair and add some shampoo. It takes a lot of shampoo and conditioner to keep my hair even looking semi presentable. It's just so thick! While I'm rinsing the conditioner out of my hair, I sing the last few notes of the song I was listening to. The next song that comes on is an Austin Moon song. Which reminds me... Mom. What does she have to do with a billionaire, actor, and singer? And why was Aunt Lizzy so worried? There will be an interrogation tomorrow morning. I sigh and cut off the water before stepping into the cold air, my feet landing on the plush, yellow carpet that matches the walls and yellow/white polka-dotted shower curtain. Wrapping the towel around me, I head back into my room and grab some pajamas. 10 minutes later, I go downstairs with my hair in a towel turban to grab some ice cream. Aunt Liz is seated on the couch watching a movie looking a lot more relaxed than she was a few hours ago. I scoop out the moose tracks into two bowls and add a spoon to each. I carry the bowls over to the living room and sit down on the couch next to Aunt Liz, handing her a bowl as I do so. We watch the movie and eat in silence until I get up and grab both bowls off the coffee table and wish Aunt Lizzy a good night. I rinse the bowls and place them in the dishwasher and go back upstairs to brush my teeth and hair. Soon, my teeth are clean, my hair is in two braids, and I'm snuggled under my covers reading my book again. At about 11:15, I hear mom walk in the door and greet Aunt Liz. I strain my ears to listen to their conversation; maybe they'll talk about this Austin Moon situation.

"Ally I was - oh my gosh you're crying! What's wrong?"

"We need to talk. Someone came to the restaurant tonight and I don't know what to do Liz!" Mom sobs. Aunt Liz must have understood who this "someone" was and starts to comfort mom.

"Shh... Ally... It'll be okay. It's only for two weeks. Just stay home and call in sick. I'll stay here. We'll get through this."

WHAT? I tiptoe out of bed and get closer to the stairs and listen hard.

"What are we going to do?" asks mom weakly.

"Start at the beginning and tell me what happened tonight. Then we'll figure out what to do".

YES! Finally. Case closed. I'm about to hear what this whole thing is about.

Or maybe not. They go into the guest room and close the door, leaving me confused. I head back to bed knowing eavesdropping would be futile; I can't hear anything from here. I turn over in my bed and try to get some sleep, but I stay up late into the night trying to put 2 and 2 together but not getting 4.

**So, longest chapter but still shorter than most people's chapters...**

**ANNOUNCEMENTS:**

**1. I have decided that starting in the next week or two, I will have a constant update scheduele of Monday and Friday.**

**2. Next Tuesday, my band class is going to Disney and will be back Friday morning. I might have time to write out the next chapter on the bus but I get motion sick easily so I'm not sure. I say all that to say: I don't know when my next update will be.**

**3. I have started a Pinterest page for the outfits for the characters. I'll "like" each outfit I use per chapter until the next chapter comes out, when the pins will be switched. Currently, I just have outfits for the girls. Rylie's outfit and Aubryn's scarf are there now... the web address is the standard pinterest thing with the . com and then /reaganmaree **

**That should be it! Thank you so much for reading, and don't forget to review!**

**~RM**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi! I'm sorry this is a day late. I was sick Sunday and Monday so I spent the majority of my day sleeping... However I will start updating regularly on Mondays and Fridays. A lot happens in this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Austin & Ally**

Ally's POV

I rush around the room trying to find my black pants and black polo shirt. If I don't get changed and out the door soon, I'll be one step closer to losing my job. Liz is usually my "alarm" and when she comes, I know it's time to get ready. However, since Aubryn is going to Penton's house with Rylie Cate and Hunter today, Lizzy won't be over here until around 6. I need to be at the restaurant by 3 not 6. I resort to grabbing the pants I wore on Friday and the black shirt I found in the dryer. After changing, I throw my hair into a ponytail, put in some gold stud earrings that are shaped like roses with diamonds, and slip on my black tennis shoes. My bag is sitting in the foyer downstairs with all my belongings that I need in it. 2:50. I run downstairs and grab the bag before locking the front door and getting into my car. 8 minutes later I arrive at my destination and shut the engine off. I grab my bag and get out of the car, locking the doors over my shoulder. 2:59. Barely made it.

"Hey Ally, that was close. It's a good thing Jonathan hasn't been out of his office since he arrived this morning," my coworker Cordelle greets me. Cordelle was my mentor when I first came and I'm closest to her at the restaurant. But back to the more important topic: Jonathan hasn't been out of his office since he arrived. That never happens. He's usually out in the kitchen or dining area supervising us or cracking jokes.

"What's wrong?" I ask, now very curious.

"Apparently some celebrity made a reservation for dinner here tonight so Jonathan's really stressed out about it," our youngest waitress Brittany answers my question. A celebrity? I wonder who that could be. Jonathan should come out soon to instruct us or else I'll go into his office to talk to him about this. We've had a few celebrities here before so this isn't entirely new and Jonathan shouldn't be stressing out. What's different about this time? At about that moment, Jonathan himself comes rushing out of his office.

"Okay guys, one of the most famous celebrities will be here tonight. I'm not allowed to tell you who it is because they want to keep it down low. I want you to treat them like a regular person, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. You all know the drill; we've had celebrities before. Now, Brittany I'm going to put this person at one of your tables. Do you think you can handle that?" Britt nods at our boss when he glances over at her before he continues to talk.

"Their reservation is at 8. We open in less than an hour so get started!"

I start taking chairs down from the tables and then wrap some silverware in napkins. Pretty soon , it's 4 and we open up. The first two hours after we open are usually pretty low key. Business picks up a bit around 6 but it gets really busy at 7. We close at 10. I'm supposed to be at work an hour before we open and an hour after we close. Some people are here longer, some people are here less than that.

I only have to wait on a few people in then beginning, but by 7:30 all my tables are full and I'm rushing around trying to keep all my customers happy. As I hurry by Brittany carrying an order, I see her fixing her appearance in the mirror before nodding at her reflection satisfactorily. She must be getting ready for that celebrity.

At around 8:05 I hear clicks and see flashes through the tinted front windows. That celebrity must be here. Britt starts talking smoothly as if this was a regular customer. She leads this person over to a table and I turn back to my work. I know better than to try and see who this mysterious person Jonathan was stressing out over. Britt will be gushing all about it while we clean up the restaurant after we close. Cordelle and I walk past each other and stop to talk.

"Who do you think it is?" I ask her

"I've never seen so many paparazzi in my life."

"This is one famous celebrity," I agree.

"Maybe it's Sarah Morris. She's pretty popular." As soon as Cordelle said that, I felt a sour taste in my mouth. Sarah was Austin's fiancé after I left him. Sure I'm glad he moved on, but with Sarah? She was really mean to me when she found out I was dating Austin and I'm sure she was ecstatic when she had Austin to herself. Just a stroke of luck they were in a movie together huh? But jokes on her. They were engaged but nothing happened and now Austin has moved on leaving a dumbstruck Sarah in his wake. I snap out of my reverie, nod at Cordelle, and then head into the kitchen. What would make Delle think Sarah Morris is here?

I come back out of the kitchen carrying 4 plates in my hand and deliver them to a group of people. As I turn back towards the kitchen, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I spin around to find Britt.

"Hey. So who is it?" I immediately ask her.

"I'll let you find out. But he ordered alcohol."

So it's a he? Britt is 17 so she can't handle alcohol yet and whenever one of her customers orders it, I'll deliver it. This is perfect. I get to see who "he" is.

"Here's the order. Do you have any tables that need help?" She hands me the order and asks me.

"Just see how their meal is. Everyone should be taken care of for now. " I glance at the order and head into the kitchen. Once the glass is full, I walk towards Brittany's section. I spot this celebrity pretty fast. People keep glancing at him and he's by himself. Adjusting my nametag, I head towards him.

"Hi! I'm - Au- Ally," I cover up my mistake and continue on smoothly. I set down the glass with shaking hands. He looks up to thank me and I see his brown eyes widen.

"You said your name was Ally?" He glances at my name tag which confirms his question.

"Um... Yes. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go get Brittany to finish off your dinner," I hastily turn around as I finish my sentence. I walk away towards Britt and I feel his eyes on me.

"He's all taken care of. If he wants more-" I leave my sentence hanging and grab my phone and then hurry to the bathroom calling over my shoulder, "Can you keep an eye on my section?" When I reach the bathroom, I run into a stall and lock the door. I start sobbing uncontrollably. Austin Moon, my ex-fiancé, is sitting at a table in the restaurant I work at. Why does this have to happen? I left Miami to raise my daughter in peace; I left to save Austin's career. I hear the door to the bathroom open slowly and a male voice tentatively asks, "Hello?"

I manage to choke out a decent "wrong bathroom" and wait for the door to open and close again so I can clean myself up and finish my shift. The only problem: the door never opens. Instead the male continues, "Ally? Come on out. Please." This person sounds so broken yet so hopeful. Feeling sympathetic, I unlock the door and step out, regretting this decision an instant later. Standing in the middle of the bathroom is none other than Austin Moon. I hurriedly turn back around and open up the stall door except a tight grip on my shoulder stops me.

"No," is all he says.

"Excuse me?"

"Ally. Don't leave me again. I can't bear to get so close only to lose you again."

I start to panic.

"I don't think I'm who you think I am. I mean you're Austin Moon. I'm just a waitress at a restaurant in a tiny town in Nebraska".

"Alessia Melodie Dawson! I know it's you and you need to accept that." His voice starts to rise and he looks very upset. I turn towards the mirror, adjusting my appearance so it didn't look I had been crying. Austin just stands there confused, looking at my hand. I know I need to leave but I just have to ask him what's wrong.

"What?"

"Where's your ring? Shouldn't you be married or something? That is why you left me isn't it?" Austin bombards me with questions. He thought I left him for another guy? That's impossible! Austin is the only guy I ever loved. Sure I LIKED Dallas and maybe some kid in 3rd grade but I've only LOVED Austin.

"Austin, I would never leave you for someone else. As a matter of fact, I haven't dated anyone since you. But I see you've gotten along just fine." I don't mean to be rude but I'm just so overwhelmed and now he's jumping to ridiculous conclusions.

"Ally, I didn't know if you'd ever be back! You left with no warning and a text that didn't elucidate anything. It's been over 14 years for goodness sakes!" My phone makes a noise before he can continue. I grab it thankful for the distraction. Lizzy texted:

_Ally! Austin is in Omaha! Be careful! We'll talk more when you get back. Bryn made it home._

I groan. "Great warning Liz," I mumble.

"Your boyfriend miss you?" Austin interrupts my thoughts on my dilemma.

"Austin! You know what? I give up! I already told you I haven't been in a relationship since I dated you and I need to get back to work anyway. Forget this ever happened. Have a good life Austin." I spin around, open the door and walk back out into the dining area before the tears start to fall. Angrily, I wipe them away. I need to pull myself together and finish the night. Brittany is over at one of my tables and I thank her for helping me out before I take over again. Every now and then, I look over at Austin's table and he's staring back at me each time. He leaves eventually, except I choose unfortunate that moment to brush by him to get to the kitchen and he reaches over and stuffs something into my back pocket. I think nothing of it and soon forget about it.

Half an hour later, the last customer leaves and we start to clean up the restaurant. Soon a conversation starts up about Austin.

"Who was it Britt?" Anslee asks.

"Yeah? Who was it? Were they really that famous?" Cordelle chimes in.

Britt answers their questions excitedly, "You'll never guess! It was Austin Moon!"

"THE Austin Moon!?" Two other waitresses exclaim in disbelief and Brittany nods. I quietly walk around cleaning while everyone else chatters excitedly. One of the male waiters, Charlie, comes over to me.

"No fangirling?" He asks.

"Haha no. I served him alcohol so I got to meet him live and in action! Yay!" I sarcastically answer.

"Okay Ms. Smart-Aleck, great talk. Looks like I'm done here. I'll see you tomorrow." Charlie tells me before he heads over to the staff room to grab his stuff. Yeah right. I'm not coming back for at least a week. But instead of voicing my thoughts, I smile brightly and tell him "goodbye".

"Ally? Is something wrong? You've been awfully quiet for the past few hours. I'll finish up for you. Go on home," Cordelle tells me.

"Thank you so much Delle. I've got a lot on my mind right now. I owe you one." I walk over to the staff room to gather my belongings and then head out to my car. Once I sit down on the car seat, I feel something poke my butt. That's when I remember Austin put something in my back packet. I pull a note out from my pocket and open it up. It's written on a napkin. Typical Austin. Should I read it? I might get reattached if read it. I rule against my better judgement and scan the letter; tears start to pool at my eyes and then slowly begin to fall.

_Ally,_

_I'm sorry for yelling at you and accusing you of leaving me for someone else. I was just so confused. I haven't seen you for nearly 15 years. 15 years Ally! And now here you are 20 miles away from a place I've been to nearly 5 times? I'm just so lost right now. Please call me. I miss you and I love you so very much. Abbie and Sarah mean nothing if there is still a chance to be with you. Please accept my apology. _

_Love, Austin_

He left his phone number at the bottom of the napkin. I bang my head against the steering wheel and produce a little angry scream. I sit there motionless in my car for a few more minutes before starting the engine and pulling out of the parking lot, headed towards home.

When I arrive, I see the living room and kitchen lights on. Lizzy hurries over immediately when she sees me.

"Ally I was- oh my gosh you're crying! What's wrong?" She exclaims after she takes note of my appearance.

"We need to talk. Someone came to the restaurant tonight and I don't know what to do Liz!" I sob. Liz knows who I'm talking about and she starts to soothe me.

"Shh... Ally... It'll be okay. It's only for two weeks. Just stay home and call in sick. I'll stay here. We'll get through this."

"What are we going to do?" I ask her weakly.

"Start at the beginning and tell me what happened tonight. Then we'll figure out what to do." I know Bryn is probably listening in even though it's past her bedtime so I lead Liz into the guest room. I start from the time I arrived at work to now and the tears start to fall again halfway through. When it's finally done Lizzy is sitting next to me rubbing circles on my back.

"Come on Ally, let's get you to bed. I'll stay overnight and we'll talk about this more after Bryn goes to school. I'll take care of her in the morning. Don't bother waking up." She tells me her plan as we walk over to the staircase together.

"Thank you Lizzy. You're a life saver. I'm so thankful I met you when I moved here. But wait, should I call him?"

"Not tonight at least Ally. We'll talk about it more when you get up. I'm going to be in the guest room. Try to get some sleep; you've been through a lot today. Goodnight." Lizzy gives me one last hug and then turns back down the hallway towards the guest room. Once I'm upstairs, I do my usual routine and hop into bed. Of course I just had to see my old engagement ring which brings on another round of tears. That night was one of the few nights I cried myself to sleep.

* * *

><p>10 a.m. Wow, did I sleep in! I hear movement downstairs and with that noise comes all the memories of last night. With a sigh, I swing my legs over the bed, allow my feet to find my slippers, and grope around the nightstand for my glasses. I head downstairs and towards the amazing smell coming from the kitchen.<p>

"Good morning Ally! Bryn left on time and all is well. She was pestering me with questions about last night, so have fun with that tomorrow morning. Cinnamon French toast?" Lizzy updates me on the morning before offering me a plate that has 3 slices of French Toast with a butter pallet drenched in syrup on it. I graciously accept the pancakes, thankful she hasn't directly mentioned last night. I start a casual conversation to be able to avoid the topic of Austin until after breakfast. We joke about multiple things all throughout breakfast but the moment my plate is situated in the dishwasher, the light mood is quickly replaced with a much more serious. Liz and I head into the living room, mugs filled with coffee in our hands. I snuggle into the oversized armchair, tucking my feet under me and Liz settles directly opposite me on the couch.

"So..." I start.

"What are you going to do Ally? He's supposed to leave in about two weeks but now that he knows you're here, things might change. You can't hide here for the rest of your life. I'm going to try to be comforting during this conversation and I'm on your side, but I'm also going to be blunt with you on this entire matter," Liz dives right into the problem at hand. No easing in for her.

"I'm going to call in sick tonight so I can gather my thoughts but I'll get back into routine tomorrow. I think I'll call him and talk things out with him this afternoon. Oh gosh, this is going to be very difficult. And what about Aubryn? I can't just take her out of school for two weeks. And like you said earlier, she's curious. What am I supposed to tell her? 'Oh yeah by the way sweetie, your dad is Austin Moon and he's here for the next two weeks. I'm going to need you to not tell anybody and stay in the house. What do you want for dinner tonight?' Do you have any ideas?" I lay out my plan before remembering about my daughter and what to do for her. I try to calm myself by taking a sip of coffee.

"Ally you've gotten through this before. Keep the normal routine with Aubryn and act like everything is fine. You'll come up with a good excuse as to why we flipped out last night. I don't know if I'd call Austin but whatever works for you, I'll back you up. You know what? We're going to go out to eat tonight. Just the two of us. Bryn will be fine by herself for one night."

"I don't know Liz-"

"We're going and that's final. I'm going to go home and I'll be back here at 7." Lizzy interrupts me and her tone lets me know she won't take "no" for an answer.

"Okay. Where are we going?"

"Just dress nice. I'll see you tonight. Good luck Ally. Call me if anything goes wrong." Liz gets up and gathers her belongings and walks towards the door.

After Liz leaves, I go back up to my room and get ready for the day. First I go into my bathroom to do my hair and brush my teeth. I'll do my makeup later. I let my hair out of the messy bun it was in and brush it out. The hair is left cascading around my shoulders. Once I'm satisfied with the way my hair looks, I brush my teeth. After that, I go into my closet and browse the possibilities. I slip out of my plaid pajama pants and into a pair of jeans. I take off my cami and replace it with a black tank top. I put on a black sheer shirt with colorful flowers over the tank top and an army green cardigan that ties around the waist on top of that. I tie the cardigan and check my final appearance one last time before heading downstairs.

It's already noon but before I make lunch, I clean up the mess from breakfast. 30 minutes later the dishes are put away and the counters sparkle. I grab out the ingredients for my lunch. Today I have decided to forgo the healthy route and have a cheese and bacon panini. 1 o'clock comes around and I finish off my lunch. I do a quick reclean of the kitchen and start a light cleaning of the house. 2 hours of procrastination later, the house looks presentable. The clock in the living room starts to ding, signaling it's 3 o'clock. 3 o'clock... Crap! I forgot to call in sick. I grab my phone and dial in the restaurant's number. After 2 and a half rings, someone picks up.

"Hello?" I hear Cordelle's voice on the other end.

"Hey Cordelle, it's Ally-"

"Ally? Where are you? Jonathan is pretty mad."

"Yeah about that... I can't come today. I'm sorry but I just don't feel too well. "

"Oh okay. I'll tell Jonathan. Get better soon!" I hear a click at the other end. Bryn should be home in about an hour, so if I'm going to call Austin, it's now or never. The piece of paper with his phone number is in my bedroom which means upstairs I go! I retrieve the piece of paper but I left my phone downstairs. Downstairs I go! Finally I have everything I need and with shaking hands I dial the number at the bottom of the napkin. This is too much to handle so I sit down in the chair I was sitting in earlier when I declared I would do what I'm doing now to Liz.

Ring. Ring. Ring. Ri-.

"Hello? This is Austin. Who is this?" He answers the phone like he always did. I take a deep breath and answer him,

"Austin, it's Ally Dawson." Calm down Ally. It'll be okay. It'll be okay. I chant this in my head as I wait for him to answer. After a few moments of silence on his end, I speak again.

"Austin? You there? Look I'm sorry if you didn't want me to call. I'll just hang up now..."

"Ally, wait! Don't leave. Don't leave me again," he says the last part very quietly but I could still hear him. "Listen Als, I'm sorry I accused you of cheating on me last night. But I wouldn't if you told me why you left." Straight to the point. Great. Austin and Liz would be great friends.

"Austin. I'm sorry but I can't tell you. You have this huge career and I'll just bring it crashing down. You have what's her face? Oh yeah. You have Abbie now. Be content with that. I'm doing just fine. I've got a job and friends and a house and an amazing daugh- dog. Yup. Job, friends, house, dog. That's me!" That was way too

close, I almost told Austin the reason why I left. I continue on, "Yes I miss you and I miss us but I can't go back now. Listen, I'm going to need you to not come back to restaurant. I don't know if I can face you and I can't just skip out on work, that would result in me losing my job. I can't loose my job. I have a family I need to provide for."

"A family?" Austin asks. Crap. Why Ally? Why?

"Yup. A family of friends. We just like to refer to ourselves as a family. A lot easier to do. You ever done that before? Extremely helpful. You know what? Speaking of family, how's yours? I talked to mine when Aub- when I was 30. Finally reconnected. It was great!" I would of continued to ramble if Austin hadn't cut me off.

"Als! You're rambling. You only do that when you're nervous. What's wrong? And why do you keep contradicting yourself?"

"Just stressed. The last 24 hours have been pretty eventful."

"Oh yeah. Okay," he replies not sounding all too convinced. "I won't go back to restaurant. Keep your job Ally. But this isn't the last you'll hear from me. Do you want to go somewhere and grab a bite to eat?"

"Thanks Austin. We do need to talk things out. I'm available from 9am to 2 pm on weekdays. You're Mr. Hotshot Celebrity, what time works for you?"

"We'll I'm currently on break from work. So how does tomorrow at 10 for brunch sound? You're Ms. Nebraska Native, where's a good place to go?"

"Um... Tomorrow sounds great. There's this place about halfway in between Valley and Omaha. I'll text you the details. See you tomorrow Austin." I don't know what comes over me but before I hang up, I say something I haven't told any guy in 14 years, "I love you". I hear a sharp intake of breath before Austin responds, "I love you too, Ally." We both hang up and I check the time. 3:40. I have about 20 minutes until Bryn comes home, so I decide to call Liz and tell her what happened. She answers on the first ring.

"Hey Ally! Did you call Austin?" Once again, straight to the point Liz!

"Yeah I did," I respond.

"What did he say?" She interrupts me.

"If you didn't interrupt, I would've told you. We talked and I nearly told Austin about Bryn 3 times. 3 times Liz! I don't know how I'll be able to talk to him face to face with him tomorrow without giving away my secret."

"Wait, hold up. Face to face? What happened?" She interrupts me once again. She's a big fan of doing that apparently.

"Yeah. We're meeting tomorrow for brunch to talk things out. He suggested it and I agreed. While I talked to him, I realized just how much I missed him and how much I want to see him. And then right before we hung up, I said 'I love you' and he said the same thing back. What's that suppose to mean? I'm so lost right now."

"Well Ally, I really don't know what to say to that. I'm sorry but I have to go. Shouldn't Bryn be home soon anyhow? Good luck with explaining last night to her Ally. I'll see you at 7. Goodbye."

"Bye," I say disheartened. She just had to remind me about Aubryn. Speaking of Aubryn, I hear the front door open and close followed by,

"Hey Aunt Liz, I'm home!" I get off the chair and slip my phone into my back pocket. I walk towards the foyer where Bryn drops her stuff off.

"Hey sweetie," I start and she turns around.

"Mom? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at work? Where's Aunt Liz?" She asks me. So far so good. No questions about last night.

"So what was wrong last night? Is that why Aunt Liz was here this morning and you're here right now?" Spoke too soon.

"Well sweetie, grab a snack and meet me in the living room. We need to talk." She nods and we head off in different directions; her towards the kitchen and me towards the living room. I sit back down in the armchair and a few minutes later, Bryn comes in holding a bowl of apple slices and caramel sauce and sits down on the couch. She starts dipping a slice into the caramel and looks at me while she chews. Okay. Calm down Ally.

"So someone came to the restaurant last night. Someone I didn't want to have to see again. Aunt Liz knows who this is and she was trying to warn me. When I got home last night I talked to her and she told me to go to bed and she would stay over to take care of you this morning so I could sleep in. This person has been looking for me for quite a while and now knows where I work so they could easily come back and I can't face them. I called in sick today but everything will return to normal tomorrow. I don't want you to think too much of this. Just carry on like nothing happened." That's pretty good right? I feel like I did good job of explaining this situation to her until she asks another question.

"Who is this person?" I can't treat her like a 5 year old anymore. I have to tell her. I could either say 'Austin' or just 'your father' but not both.

"A man named Austin." I settle with that. She probably knows it's Austin Moon. I'll know in 5, 4, 3, 2, here we go.

"You mean Austin Moon? Aunt Liz was watching the news last night and he was on it and she muttered something about you. How do you know him?"

"I- He- We- We used to be friends," I stutter out.

"When was this? Oh my gosh! It's a good thing I'm not like Rylie Cate or else you'd have a serious problem on your hands. She is a die hard Austin Moon fan. Why didn't-" Aubryn exclaims. I cut her off before she can ask anymore questions.

"Aunt Liz and I are going out tonight, so you'll be by yourself. I trust you okay? And no more questions about Austin. Don't you have homework? Please go get it done." She nods and grabs her backpack and heads up to her room. Sighing I take out my phone and text Liz:

_I told Bryn. Not sure how to explain what happened. I'll tell you tonight._

I replace my phone in my pocket and head upstairs. It's nearly 5 so I might as well get ready.

I put in my contacts and then start on my makeup. I don't go all crazy, just some mascara and eyeliner. After that I brush out my hair and curl it. I grab a barrette to hold back the ringlets. With one last look, I walk out of my bathroom and towards my closet. I push hangers right and left as I walk around. All of a sudden, I trip over a shoe I forgot to put away and I stick my hands out for balance, grabbing onto a box that opens up and spills its contents all over the floor. Once I steady myself, I grab the box and start to put everything away. The only problem is that this box hold all of my memories with Austin. I check the clock on my bedside table and see I have enough time to go through some of these things. I didn't want Bryn to find out about Austin so I packed anything and everything that had to do with my old life with Austin away. In this box there are pictures, notes, our wedding invitation, an award or two, music, a few pieces of jewelry he got me, and my songbook. One of the only "Austin things" that isn't in the box is my engagement ring. I sit in my closest for about 30 minutes reminiscing before I remember the original reason I was in here. I pack everything back up and choose an outfit for tonight. After shedding my previous outfit, I put on a sleeveless, light blue, high-low dress with a jean jacket and brown accessories: a thin belt, a set of bangle bracelets, dangle earrings with a gem, a cross body purse, and sandals. It's 6:50 so I walk over to Aubryn's room where she is packing up her school materials. She hears noise and turns towards me.

"Wow Mom, you look gorgeous."

"Thank you sweetie. Now, I'm sure you can find something to eat and be safe. I'll be home before 11. Love you. Bye." I give her a hug and go downstairs to wait for Liz. 2 minutes later she drives up and I walk over to her car.

"Hey!" She greets me when I open the door.

"Hi Liz."

"So how'd the talk with Bryn go?"

"I told her I met someone at the restaurant and it was overwhelming and that everything would return to normal tomorrow. I thought I was good to go until she asked me who this someone was so I told her it was a guy named Austin. She figured out the rest. I told her we used to be friends. And before she could ask anything else, I told her to go get her homework done. But let's please forget about this tonight. Let's just go eat and talk about something exciting," I catch her up on the details and then banish the subject for the rest of the night.

Our dinner was delicious and not once did we mention Austin. Soon enough, it was time for us to go home and after thanking Liz for forcing me to go out tonight, I let myself into the house and go to bed, slightly worried for tomorrow's meeting with Austin.

* * *

><p><strong>So I don't like having multiple POV's per chapter but I'm not going to dedicate a whole chapter to just Aubryn. So, I've decided to tack her on to the end here... Enjoy!<strong>

* * *

><p>Aubryn's POV<p>

I hear a loud noise come from my Mom's room and I get up from my desk to go investigate. Noiselessly, I walk into her room and see the closet door ajar and the light on. She's seated on the ground going through a box full of different items. I see her hold up a picture. It's one of younger her and... AUSTIN MOON?! Oh I'm definitely looking through that box once she leaves for dinner with Aunt Liz. I quietly tiptoe back out and finish my homework. 45 minutes later, Mom stops by my bedroom door and lays out the ground rules. I nod and she gives me a hug and leaves. Soon the front door opens and closes and I head downstairs to fix myself some dinner. I settle on a single serve portion of Mac & Cheese and while I eat, I text Rylie. I'm tempted to tell Rylie about how my mom was friends with Austin Moon, but I know that Mom probably wouldn't be too excited I told someone. Which reminds me: that box in Mom's closet. I finish off my Mac & Cheese and tidy up the kitchen before telling Rylie I had to do something and run upstairs.

After 5 minutes of searching, I find the box and I sit down to look through it. There are a bunch of pictures rubber banded together. I go through these first. There's some pictures of mom with Austin, with Austin's manager, and with Austin's video director. Mom knew Trish de La Rosa and Dez too? Wow. Then one of the more shocking ones, Mom and Austin kissing. Just friends huh Mom? There's one of mom and Austin on a stage performing a duet. There's some of mom and Trish together and Austin and Dez together. Plenty of pictures of them all together too. After I flip through all the pictures, I put the rubber band back around them and set them back where they were. Next up are a lot of notes kept together by a paper clip. They're all from Austin to Mom and they're all sweet little notes that someone would leave for their significant other on the fridge or something. Underneath the letters, there's a wedding invitation. I grab it and open it up. I have to blink twice at what's inside:

_Please Join Us in Celebrating the Marriage of_

_Alessia Melodie Dawson_

_to_

_Austin Monica Moon_

_on the 7th of November _

_at Miami Beach_

_RSVP by September 2nd_

I'm sorry, what? They were engaged? My mom was about to marry THE Austin Moon. And then something hits me: I was born in June the year after they were supposed to be married. That means Mom was pregnant before she was married. So either Mom cheated on Austin with another famous person and she had to move to not be embarrassed or my father is Austin Moon. Either way, my father is famous, Mom already told me that. Then I remember Mom's tattoo. It's a crescent moon. Austin MOON. My father is Austin Moon. I finally got the 4 I was trying to find last night. Austin Moon is my father. I hurriedly look through the rest of the box for proof. There's some awards: Austin Moon for Best Song of the Year and lots of other ones like that. Mainly about the song itself. There's also some sheet music of some old Austin Moon songs. At the top corner of all the songs, I see "written by Ally Dawson". That must be why Mom has all the awards about the songs. She wrote those songs and Austin gave the awards to her. That's so sweet. I see some jewelry, but I overlook that because underneath everything else, is a book. There's a big "A" on the front along with other little decorations. I open it up and start at the beginning. I'm a fast reader and I'm almost 3/4 of the way through it in 30 minutes. This thing seals the deal and soon I know all about my Mom's life in Miami. Towards the end I read about how Mom got pregnant and didnt want to hurt Austin's career so she left. This means I am Austin Moon's daughter. Wow. I put everything back into the box and put the box back up on the shelf, promising myself to go through it more thoroughly next time I have the chance.

It's already 9:45 when I get back to my room, so I take a shower to clear my mind. By 10:15, I'm ready for bed and I'm snuggled under my comforter with my laptop opened up on my lap. I start researching all about Austin Moon and Ally Dawson and I finally have the whole puzzle put together. I shut my laptop and curl up into a little ball under the covers but I stay wide awake having a mental fight about whether or not I should confront Mom about this.

**So Austin and Ally met again and Aubryn knows who her dad is. Should she tell Ally that she knows? I don't know if she will or not so what do y'all think she should do? Also, it's a pretty long chapter right? It's almost 3x longer than the other ones.**

**Don't forget to check the pinterest page that I mentioned in Chapter 4. There are new outfits up now. Please review!**

**~Reagan Maree **


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm sorry I missed updating on Friday. I wasn't sure where I wanted this chapter to go. However, I figured it out and here is a FYOG Chapter 6!**

**One quick question to answer: **

**_AusllyGirl123:_**** Austin and Ally are both 34 and Aubryn is 14.**

**Great. If anyone else has question, feel free to ask them! **

**One last note before the disclaimer: Arlene Anderson is Rylie Cate's mom if I didn't make that clear.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Austin & Ally.**

Austin's POV

I check my clothing ensemble one last time before heading out of the hotel to the restaurant Ally texted me directions to. I had on jeans, a white v-neck and a fancy-casual black jacket. I had some black shoes on and my hair was in its usual organized-mess hairstyle. I grab my phone and go down the stairs to the parking for the hotel. I've learned from past experiences to avoid taking the elevator in public places like hotels or malls. It can be kind of awkward if you're not the only person in the elevator because people are either really big fans, hate your guts and wish you didn't exist or don't care (the don't care people are the best). I get into the car I rented and check my phone for the directions. 15 minutes later I arrive at a quaint restaurant. I sit in my car for a few minutes because I'm early. When I was 18, I finally realized it would be a good idea to be early or on time for meetings and appointments or else I might not have a job.

I don't know what Ally's car looks like, so I'll just have to wait until 10 and if she doesn't pull up, I'll go inside. At 9:59, a car turns into the parking lot and I see Ally in the driver's seat. I get out of my car and walk over to where she parked. She looks beautiful. She's wearing coral colored pants and a gray shirt. There's a light pink scarf around her neck and hanging on her arm is a pink and gray bag. She steps one tiny gray flat onto the pavement and swings her other foot beside it when she steps out of the car. When she acknowledges me, her little pink earrings swing.

"H-hey Austin," she stutters.

"Hi Ally. How are you?"

"I'm good. Let's go in, we have a lot to talk about." She walks in front of me but when we reach the door, I reach over her tiny frame to pull it open. She nods graciously and walks inside with me trailing behind. She smiles when she sees someone.

"Hi Arlene. How are you?" She greets a blonde haired woman.

"I'm great Ally. Who's this? Oh I know you! You're that guy that sings and is in all those movies. My daughter's a huge fan..." She trails off.

"Oh that's great to hear. I'm Austin Moon," I say shaking her hand.

"Oh yes. That's who it is. Austin Moon. Well Austin, I'm Arlene Anderson."

She turns her attention back to Ally.

"Rylie invited Bryn to the mall this afternoon. Did she tell you? I'll be taking them," Arlene keeps talking but I ignore her and look at Ally. She looks a little panicked. Ally quietly asks Arlene for a second and tells me to go find us a table. I oblige and I feel her watch me before she turns back to Arlene. Once I find a table, I sit down and pull out my phone. I hear a beautiful laugh and I look over to see Ally now talking animatedly to Arlene, which is kind of weird considering that she was deathly quiet earlier. My phone makes a little noise and I unlock it to see a text from Trish.

_Dez told me you found Ally. Give me her number or else I'll come to wherever you guys are._

So I told Dez I found Ally and all that had happened since Monday night when I called him this morning. He was pretty calm about it but I guess he told Trish. Oh well. I respond to Trish:

_I don't know... I'll ask Ally. Maybe she'll call you._

There's a presence at the opposite side of the table. I look up from my phone to see Ally.

"Hi," I say

"Hi."

Our brilliant conversation gets interrupted by a waitress.

"Hello. My name is Samantha, I'll be serving you today. Would you like anything to drink?" Samantha asks. She seems to be one of those "don't care" people I mentioned earlier. I tell her my order and then I look at Ally. She tells the waitress what she wants and Samantha walks away. I look straight at Ally and start our serious talk.

"What have you been up to?"

"Well, when I came here, I moved into an apartment next to a girl my age. Her name's Liz, she knows about you. Maybe you'll meet eventually. I got a job as a secretary and I kept that job for about 7 years, until the company went out of business. Then I got the job I have now as a waitress. 3 years ago I reconnected with my parents because I knew you weren't talking to them anymore and they come up each year for Christmas now. Like I said on Monday, I haven't dated anyone else since I left Miami. What about you? I know the paparazzi's story, what's the real thing?" Ally caught me up on her life and about half way through, our drinks came.

"Well, for about 4 months after you left, I didn't really do too much, just kind of went through the motions. You probably heard about what I told the paparazzi about your absence," she nods and I continue," 2 years later I got into acting and met Sarah Morris." She makes a face at this. "What? What's wrong with Sarah?"

"I knew her when we were teenagers. She would fight with me about you, claiming that I stole you from her. I'm sure she was on Cloud 9 when you became free again. Stroke of amazing luck you were in a movie together huh?" She enlightens me bitterly. What? Neither Ally nor Sarah ever told me about that.

"What? I'm sorry Ally. I didn't know that was happening. But back to the story, we dated on and off three years, I proposed but we were just so busy and couldn't set a wedding date. I was never fully committed to Sarah, part of me always was with you. Sarah wasn't too happy about this - I now know why - and we decided to split up. Then I met Abbie Stafford on another movie. We hated each other from the start, filmed the movie, and went our separate ways. Next year we met again, restarted our relationship and we've dated for two years. I haven't proposed to her, and I'm not sure if I will. Um... Been on tour a few times, I've been in movies, what else do you want to know?"

"How are Dez and Trish doing?"

"They're good. Speaking of Trish, she wanted me to give her your phone number. I told her that I would give you her number so you could call her if you wanted to. Trish got into fashion and she's still my manager, along with being a manager for a couple of other people. She's incredibly busy. Dez has been busy too except instead it's with all his movies. Oh yeah! Biggest news is Dez and Trish get along now. That was the best thing that came from you leaving. They toned down the fighting for me and it just kind of stuck." She looks at me before quietly asking,

"What's Trish's phone number?" We both pull out our phones and I relay the number while Ally types it in. When Ally unlocked her phone, I noticed her screen saver was of her and girl about 13 or 14. After she has Trish's number in her phone, I ask her about that picture.

"Who's that girl in your screen saver?"

She looks kind of flustered as she answers.

"That's um... That's Liz's daughter. Yeah. She got ahold of my phone and changed my lock screen picture."

Samantha comes back and Ally visibly relaxes.

"What would you like to have to eat?"

"Um... I'll go with a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich with hash browns," Ally orders first.

"And I'll have a stack of pancakes," I follow Ally's order with my usual.

Ally smiles, "So you still love pancakes Austin?"

"Yup. There will never be a day that I don't love pancakes."

She laughs and I smile when she does; I've missed that laugh. Unfortunately, as soon as I ask my next question, she'll stop.

"Ally, I'll ask you one more time and that I won't bother you about this again. Why did you leave?" Sure enough, once I ask her, all signs of laughter leave.

"Look Austin, I can't tell you why. Maybe I will eventually, like at least 5 years eventually. I'm sorry but I can't. And thank you for not asking about this. I don't know how much longer I can go. So how's your relationship with Abbie?"

"You really want to know?" She opens her mouth to speak but then just nods.

"Okay. Um. Well we're good. She's a bit over-attached but she's an independent business woman. A very glamorous independent business woman." I abruptly change subjects because I realized I had a lot of questions for her. Who cares about Abbie right now?

"How much do you know about my life? Did you cut off all ties or-?" I start off the questions and Ally looks at me a bit surprised by the change of subject.

"Well- I mean- I guess- I didn't stalk you but I would see you on magazine covers when I went shopping. There's always stuff on the news about you, nothing bad thank goodness. And maybe I'd Google** (don't own)** your name once or twice."

She plays with her hands and I notice a tattoo on her ring finger.

"And what's that?" I point to it.

"A tattoo?"

"Yeah duh. What is it supposed to mean? What is it?"

"It's a crescent moon. For you. It's where the engagement ring was. I couldn't keep the ring on but I could have a tattoo to remember it. Speaking of which, I have the ring in my bag if you wanted it back." She grabs her purse and opens it up. With a determined look, she gropes around in her bag before triumphantly bringing out a little black box. She pushes it towards me.

"Here."

I push it back.

"No keep it. I don't need it for anything. Remember me that way." She nods and puts it back in her bag. "But back to the tattoo. You really got that for me?" I'm honestly amazed that Ally would get a tattoo much less one in honor of me.

"Yeah. It's a moon like your last name."

"That's sweet Ally."

Our food comes and we start to eat. After a content silence, I restart the questioning.

"How do you know Arlene?"

"She has a daughter, Rylie Cate, and Rylie is friends with Liz's daughter. Arlene and I would see each other at different things."

"So tell me about Liz."

"Liz is my best friend in Nebraska. We were neighbors when I first came, so we struck up a friendship and it stuck. Her name's Elizabeth Coppage but she goes by Liz or Lizzy. She and her husband Ryan are incredibly nice. You might meet her, if we ever talk again after this."

"Do you want to talk to me after this?" I ask her.

"I'd like to have a friendly relationship with you," she responds. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. At least she doesn't want to not talk to me for the rest of our lives. Besides, it's not like we could just pick up where we left off. Plus, I'm already dating someone else.

We spend the next hour talking and catching up some more.

* * *

><p>Ally's POV<p>

"...and that is how Dez realized that zebras are indeed real," Austin finishes up a story and I laugh. My phone makes a noise and I take a peek at it to see a text from Bryn.

"Hold on. I need respond to this," I tell Austin and he nods. I unlock my phone and read the text.

_Can I go shopping with Ry this afternoon? Mrs. A is taking us. I'm sorry I didn't tell you this morning. You seemed a little zoned out. And don't worry, it's lunch time, we can be on our phones._

I was pretty off this morning wasn't I? My meeting with Austin was really stressing me out. I already told Arlene Bryn would go so I text back.

_Yes. I ran into Mrs. A earlier and said you could go. I'll tell Aunt Liz. Make sure you tell her what time you'll be home. See you tomorrow morning. Love you._

I then excuse myself and call Liz quickly. I walk a little ways away from the table so Austin can't hear.

"Hey Liz."

"How'd the meeting go?"

"We're still talking but so far so good. I'll tell you more about it tonight. I just called to tell you Aubryn is going shopping with a friend this afternoon. I told her to tell you when she'll be home. So you got some more free time. See you tonight."

"Sounds great. Bye Ally." Our conversation ends and I walk back to the table. Austin's back is to me and he's on his phone. As I pass him, I see he's texting Abbie. I sit down and wait for him to finish up. While I wait, my phone rings and I see that Bryn is calling me. Worried, I answer the phone and stand up while I start talking.

"Aubryn Harmony! Why in the world are you calling me during school? I don't care if you text, but call? And it's not lunchtime anymore. Oh my gosh young lady! Do you want detention or ISS?

"Mom, calm down. We get an early release day because there was a gas leak or something. I'm coming home. Penton's mom is coming to pick Ry, Hunter, Pen and me up. She'll drop each of us off. Ry and I will go to the mall on Saturday or something."

"Okay as long as you're not doing something that's not allowed. You don't know how much trouble you'd be in. Aunt Liz or I will be at home. See you soon, goodbye." I end the call and look up to see Austin watching me curiously. Crud. How much did he hear? I started talking before I was out of earshot. It doesn't matter, Aubryn takes top priority. I can always come up with another lie. My lying skills are better than I thought. That doesn't matter right now, I need to call Liz - again.

"Now what Ally?" She answers the phone.

"Well someone's in a mood. I was just calling to tell you this afternoon's plans just changed. There's a gas leak or something at the middle school, so Bryn got out early. One of her friend's mom's is dropping her off at home. She's not going shopping tonight. One of us has to be there. Are you free? Or should I go home?"

"Ally, I'm so sorry but you're going to have to go home or just trust Bryn by herself for an hour and a half."

"I guess I'll let her stay by herself; I'm not done talking to Austin, but please be there by 3. I've got to go to work still. See you soon."

"See you at 3"

I make one last phone call.

"Hey Mom! What's up?"

"Change of plans. Liz will be over at 3, but you're on your own until then. Be good. I'm trusting you. I love you Bryn."

"Okay mom, Love you too, bye."

I press the end call button and walk back to Austin.

"So why is Aubryn Harmony calling you during school? And follow-up question if I may, who is Aubryn Harmony?" He asks me when I sit down. Well that's how much he heard. I stall for time, by taking a sip of water. What should I tell him? I'm most definitely not saying she's mine. I could just say that she's Liz's; I've already started that lie. I don't really want to tell Austin her name though. He already thinks Bryn is Liz's; I'm digging myself into a very deep hole if I associate Bryn's name with Bryn's face. Austin will be incredibly mad if he knows I've been lying to him about this person to this extent. The second I say Aubryn Harmony is Liz's daughter, there's no going back. However, if no name is put to Liz's supposed daughter's face, I can easily change the entire identity of my made up person. I could also just come out and say I can't tell him. It'll draw a lot of attention to the fact that Aubryn somehow has something to do with me and I can't tell Austin about that fact. Not suspicious at all, right? I end up going with the third option.

"She's-she's- Yeah I can't tell you. Bye Austin, I'll talk to you later okay?" I drop a twenty on the table because I don't want to be any more rude than I already am by leaving and quickly gather my belongings.

"Ally? Wait. Don't leave." He too puts a twenty on the table and passes Samantha as he runs after me.

"Keep the change Samantha," I hear him call. By now I'm in my car and starting the engine. I know he's going to follow me so instead of going home, I go straight to the restaurant. Thankfully I had packed my work clothes and brought them along just in case I lost track of time. I'm nearly an hour early, but some of the other staff will already be there. I check my rearview and sure enough Austin is still following me. A red light stops me, and I take a minute to regain my composure and come up with a plan.

10 minutes later, I put my car in park and grab the black duffel bag that contains my uniform from the backseat. Austin got stalled at a traffic light but that doesn't mean he won't be here soon. From where he was, he could see that I pulled in here. I rush in the door.

"Ally! You're early. Is something wrong?" Cordelle is the first to notice me. I just nod and gather everyone who's in the dining room's attention.

"Hi! Listen if Austin comes in here, I'm not here. He probably won't believe you but just do whatever you can to keep him away from me, nothing violent though. And don't mention Aubryn!" Everyone nods and I hurry to the back room to change. Aubryn would come here every-now-and-then so almost everyone knows her and a portion of my story.

After I change outfits, I pull my hair that was previously cascading down my back into a ponytail. I straighten my name tag and quietly walk towards the dining room. Cordelle is talking to Austin. He looks pretty agitated.

"Mr. Moon, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. If Ally wants to talk to you, she'll do so. However, she needs to be able to do her job and you are hindering her from doing so." She speaks so calmly and sophisticated-ly. Is that even a word? That is not the about the matter at hand. Focus! I know I shouldn't be pushing my problems onto everyone else, so I step out from where I was watching and walk over to them.

"Thank you Delle," is all I say. The bickering pair turn towards me and Delle gives me a 'are you crazy?' look.

I take Austin by his arm and lead him over to a secluded table in the back. Everyone's looking at us and I signal for them to get back to work. They sheepishly go back to what they were doing before all the drama entered the building. Austin is patiently waiting as I gather my bearings. I take a deep breath before talking.

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><p><strong>So here's the usual AN:<strong>

**1. Check the Pinterest Page. Ally's outfit is up. ****_I don't know if this matters or not but I don't own Pinterest..._**

**2. Don't forget to review!**

**3. Question: Should Ally tell Austin about Bryn in the next chapter? I honestly don't know if she will or not.**

** should be it. I don't know if there will be a chapter on Friday, I'm going on a mini road trip so... This means there's an 80% chance that a Chapter 7 will be here on Thursday, depending on how busy my week gets. If I don't post a chapter until Monday, I'll do my best to make it long. Maybe the longest chapter so far.**

**~Reagan Maree**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi! I'm soooooooo sorry I haven't updated in about three weeks! I'm back now with a chapter. So, HERE! **

**Disclaimer: I don't Austin & Ally! **

**Ally's POV:**

"Listen Austin, I'll tell you why I left in a few minutes. However first I need to make a phone call. Please stay here." Austin nods and I get up to go to the staff room to retrieve my phone and call Liz. Before I tell Austin about Bryn, I need to tell Bryn about Austin. I pace back and forth while the phone rings. Finally, Liz answers.

"Ally? My goodness, what do you need now?"

"Are you still busy?"

"No, I'm free now. What do you need?"

"Can you go to my house, get Bryn and bring her to the restaurant?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"So I slipped up a little when I was with Austin. He overheard me talking to Bryn on the phone and then asked who she was. I ran and now I've decided to tell him. I want him and Bryn to meet. However, I'm going to need to talk to Aubryn first, so I'll need you to keep him entertained. He knows a little bit about you already and thinks Bryn is yours. Keep that story going for me, please. Text me when you arrive. I'll come out to meet you, I don't want Austin to see her yet."

"Wow, you're in some pretty deep dirt right now. I'm already at your house. See you in five. I'll text you when I pull up."

We hang up and I pocket my phone. I walk back out into the dining room and get started on work. Cordelle sidles up next to me and asks me what's going on. "Delle, as much as I'd love to tell you, I can't. Austin and I have some history and Bryn's involved and we need to talk about it. If he goes crazy, don't do anything to stop him. Depending on how it goes, I might not be able to work tonight." She looks at me curiously but before she can ask questions, my phone buzzes and I see a text from Liz saying she's here. I excuse myself and head outside. We greet each other and I give both of the girls hugs. I pull Liz to the side and start talking.

"Go on in and talk to him. Talk to him about anything. Just remember, right now, Bryn is yours except he doesn't know her name exactly. I'm going to talk to Bryn and then talk to Austin. Wish me luck." She does so and then walks into the building. I lead Aubryn to the bench in front of the restaurant. We sit, and I calm my nerves.

"Aubryn," I start. She looks up at me with her large, brown eyes, "I met up with Austin today and now he's in that building," I point, "waiting for me to tell him why I left so many years ago. I promised myself I wouldn't tell you about this until you were 18, but you're mature enough and the time has come a bit earlier than expected. Bryn," I take a very deep breath, "Austin Moon wasn't just a friend. He was my boyfriend, then fiancée and we thought he'd be my husband. However, something came up before we married and I left. You're that something. Austin Moon is actually-"

She cuts me off, "My father. Mom, I know. I figured out last night. I saw you looking through that box and once you left I went through it. I saw the wedding invitation and the pictures and everything else. It wasn't too hard to realize who my father was." Shocked, I start crying. She comes closer and hugs me.

"I'm not mad. Not at all. It was an incredibly brave thing for you to raise me on your own. I know your going through a lot. You're probably getting ready to go tell him about me. I'll be there, Aunt Liz will be there, heck, your coworkers will be there if you need any help. We're all backing you up." I smile at her through my tears, choosing to ignore the fact that she went through my stuff without permission.

"When did you become the encouraging mother?" She smiles back at me and I wipe away the tears. "He probably won't be too happy that I kept this from him for so long. If he gets mad and says anything that is mean towards you, don't take it to heart. He's mad at me and he doesn't know how to express himself, so he'll just take it out on everybody. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. You mean so much to me, Aunt Liz, your friends, and everyone else."

She looks at me and laughs, "Look who's the encouraging Mother now."

"That's my job," I reply. We hug each other once more before we get up. I walk in front of her and open the door. Liz is sitting across from Austin in a booth talking and he's smiling. Cordelle notices us and walks up to Bryn and me. She hugs Aubryn and gives me a reassuring look. Anslee follows her and repeats her action.

"Thank you guys," I say to them. Aubryn grabs my hand and I walk over to the table Austin and Liz are sitting at. I clear my throat and they look up.

"Thank you Liz," I tell her.

"No problem Ally, good luck. How do you want to do this?"

"Can you wait somewhere else in here? I'll keep Bryn but if I break down, some reassurance would be nice. You'll know when I tell him." She nods and walks off. Leaving me and Austin looking at each other and Bryn hiding behind me. She wasn't shy, she just didn't want to make her presence known.

"Liz is nice. Good friend, very entertaining I must say. Are you planning on sitting down? Or do I need to stand up?" Austin starts. Bryn shuffles behind me and sits down in the cushioned seat and I join her. Austin studies her like she's a new specimen in the lab.

"Who's this?"

"This," _breathe Ally, breathe_. Bryn grabs my hand under the table, "This is Aubryn Harmony."

"Oh. Her face looks like the girl you said is Liz's." The girl in question shoots me a quizzical look. I return one that says, "I'll explain later."

"Well, Aubryn Harmony, I'm Austin Moon. Do you go by that? It seems a little weird. No offense if you do."

She smiles and replies, "I go by Aubryn or Bryn."

"Well then, Aubryn Coppage, it's nice to meet you." I clear my throat, dreading what's coming next.

"Actually Austin, that's not her name."

"Well then what is it?"

"It's Aubryn Harmony-"

"Does she go by the Harmony part or not? My god girl! Do you?" She shakes her head. "Well then what's wrong?"

"Her full name is Aubryn Harmony Dawson," I whisper.

"What did you say her last name was?"

"Dawson," I mumble.

"Speak UP!" His voice starts to rise.

"Her name is Aubryn Harmony Dawson," I say loudly.

"So how is she related? A long lost sister? Niece?"

"She's my daughter," I answer him, and for some reason I'm not nervous anymore.

"Your daughter? You said she was Liz's. How the fu- heck can she be yours?" I can tell that even though he's mad, he's trying hard not to curse in front of Bryn. "I lied okay? I lied. Bryn is mine. She's the reason I left you. We weren't married and I didn't want bad publicity for you."

"So you cheated." It's more of a statement then a question.

Bryn jumps in to defend me and my heart swells with pride, "No. My mother would never cheat. She is one of the most trustworthy people I've ever met. I cannot believe that you would even consider that idea."

"You," he points at Bryn, "You need to stay out of this. Why the hell are you even here? I am talking to your so called mother. I don't need a teenager listening in. "

"My mother-," Aubryn starts.

"I said you needed to stay out of this."

"Austin!" I will not have you talk to my daughter like that," I yell at him. All of a sudden he looses all his fire and just sighs.

"So she's mine?"

"Yes and I can tell you don't want to have anything to do with us so I'll let you go back to your celebrity life with Abbie. Now, I have work to do because I have a family to support," I stand up from the booth and Aubryn follows suit, "But there you go Austin, here's the reason I left you . And she's the best thing that ever happened to me. Aubryn," I turn my attention to my silent daughter, "I'll see you at home. Head on out to the car. I need to talk to Aunt Liz." She nods and I give her a hug whispering, "I'm sorry." She nods again and walks out to the car. Austin is behind me sitting with his head in his hands. "You're lucky there was a 13 year old sitting with us, or else it would have gotten a lot worse," I say to him through gritted teeth before turning on my heel to talk to Lizzy. She stands up and meets me halfway. She hugs me and I cry into her shoulder, so she rubs my back and calms me down.

"I'll take Bryn back to your house. We'll talk in depth tonight. It's nearly 4. Go get cleaned up and do your job." I nod and with one last squeeze, Lizzy leaves. I walk over to the bathroom, taking the long way because the direct way goes right by Austin. My makeup is smeared so I just wipe it all off. I try on a smile and my face doesn't look that bad. My hair is still in a ponytail except it's starting to fall out. I redo it except I wind the ponytail tightly and produce a simple bun. When I walk out, I see Jonathan talking to Delle.

"She had some personal issues to take care of," Delle argues.

"What the hell does that mean?" He questions. I walk over to stand by Brittany. Our backs are turned away from the fight. She's wrapping silverware and I join in.

"They're talking about you, you know right?" She whispers to me, acknowledging my presence.

"I guessed as much," I reply. Before either one of us has a chance to continue, a loud voice resonates throughout the room. "

Ally Dawson! " I slowly turn around.

"Yes Jonathan?" I ask meekly.

"What are these personal issues Cordelle tells me about?" He puts air quotes around personal issues.

"I had to talk to Austin about something that happened in the past," I answer his question vaguely. I glance over at Austin across the room. He sits staring straight ahead, listening to my conversation.

"And this was so important you had to disrupt our restaurant?" He asks.

"I'm sorry Jonathan. It won't happen again," weakly I apologize.

"Since this is your first true offense, I'll just leave you with a warning. But if this happens again, you will not have a job," he threatens. He turns around and starts to reprimand Charlie. I take a deep breath. There's no use in crying. Britt and Delle come over to talk to me but I wave them off with a small smile. Everyone disperses to a section of the dining room. Unconsciously, everyone skirts away from Austin, leaving the tables around where he sits left to me to get ready for opening. _Thanks guys._ Determined to get my job done, I walk towards Austin. When he sees me, he stands up.

"Ally I-"

"Austin please, my boss is already mad at me. Don't make it worse." I try to start turning over chairs but he stops me.

"2 minutes at the most," he begs quietly.

"Fine. Just let me do my work," I respond exasperated. He steps aside so I grab the legs of a creme colored, cushioned chair and deftly flip it right side up.

"Ally. I'm sorry for flipping out on you. There's been so much happening. I find you after 14 years and then two days after that, I find out I have a daughter. I want to be part of her life if you'll let me but I need a little bit of time to process all this. Can we meet again Friday? Or Saturday? And regardless, I hope you know that no matter how mad I am at you for lying and keeping this a secret, there will always be a part of me the loves you. And tell Aubryn not to take anything I said too personally. I'm sorry Ally." He turns with that and walks out the double doors silently.

I finish flipping the remaining chairs and grab the cream table cloths to place over all the tables that aren't booths. I'm 30 minutes behind so I can't do anything too fancy. _Unfold, flick, flutter, smooth. Unfold, flick, flutter, smooth._ I chant this over and over in my head. Anslee finishes her work area and walks over to help me, since I still need to set the tables. She puts down plate after plate at each seat. Cordelle comes over with a big tub of silverware wrapped with napkins and starts to follow behind Anslee putting a bundle on each plate. Britt and Charlie each roll a cart of glasses over. Charlie has wine glasses and Britt has water glasses. Two glasses are placed at each setting.

I work at Five. This is a five star restaurant that is a little stereotypical but at the same time it's different. There's one big dining room that has booths along two sides and tables of varying sizes in the middle. On the far wall there's the bathrooms, the staff room and the kitchen. The "theme" is creme colored with varying accents of gold, pink, and green. We are a very close group of coworkers and we'll help whoever needs help. Today that's me. When everyone is done, I smile gratefully at them and Jonathan comes out to open the restaurant. I get lost in the swing of things and before I know it we've closed and I have to start cleaning up. I do everything I did 7 hours previous in reverse and go over to help Britt who is moving at a sluggish pace.

"Britt. What's wrong? You're not as peppy as usual," I ask her worriedly.

"I can't burden you with my problems Ally. You've had so much happen to you recently; I can't add to all the craziness," she replies. I was about to let the matter drop but when I see her start to tear up, I know this is important.

"Nonsense Brittany. Tomorrow, I'll take you out for lunch at around noon and we can talk then. I'll meet you at the little diner a few buildings down from here. Okay?"

"Thank you Ally," she nods.

"Okay, I'll see you then." I give her a hug from the side before I head to the staff room and hang up my pink apron that ties around the waist. Each of the waiters and waitresses here have a green apron and a pink apron that both tie around the waist. We can wear either color but the boys usually stick to green unless it's Valentines Day and even that took a lot of coaxing from Britt and Anslee. I pick up my bag and walk back through the dining room shouting "bye" and getting a chorus of "byes" back.

I forgot all about Austin and Aubryn and that whole mess but it quickly resurfaces in my memory on the way home. I try to push the thoughts away but they're persistent and soon my analyzing brain starts going through this afternoon. Austin and I got along just fine at brunch. It was almost like nothing had ever happened in between us, good or bad. Then I had to ruin it. If I kept Bryn a secret a little longer, I could've apologized and led Austin slowly into my crazy life. That would be incredibly selfish of me. Technically, I've been selfish ever since I made the decision to leave Austin with no explanation. And Bryn. Oh my god Bryn. She has been such a good sport. She deserved to know who her father was the moment she could understand what I was saying. Never would she ask about him; who he was, what he did. Now she knows and she didn't yell at me. No. Instead she comforts me. I've loved Bryn and I've seen her everyday of her life but I never saw how mature she was. How not having a father and a mother only there half the time took a toll on her. As a matters of fact, Liz has been there for her more than I have. I've been too focused on myself; making sure that there would be enough money to live on. I'm at work when she comes home from school and she's in bed when I come home from work. We spend an hour and a half together in the morning and most of the time it's spent getting ready. The only time I spend truly with her is during school breaks but we're both still busy. I feel a tear fall down my cheek. This whole time I thought I was being an amazing mom. I'm single yet I manage to keep a good roof over our heads and good food on our table. Another tear. I've never been there for Aubryn. I've never talked to her about her life and I've never just had fun with her. I'm surprised she still calls me mom, because I'm certainly not one to her. Now I have a torrential downpour of tears falling.

I pull my car into my driveway and park, but I don't get out. I just lean back, pull my hands through my hair and sigh. After a few minutes of sitting in the deathly still night, I gather my stuff and head indoors. I'm greeted by two faces: Liz and Aubryn. I'm not surprised by the fact that Bryn is still up. We all need to talk. I drop my bags and kick off my shoes. Liz sits next to Aubryn on the couch so I take a seat facing them in the arm chair.

"So...," Aubryn starts off. I give her a watery smile.

"So I came to this realization in the car tonight. Aubryn," I look at her, "I haven't really been a mom to you since I started working at the restaurant. Liz has been more of a mom to you than I have."

"That's not true," the two girls cut in.

"But it is," I reply, "I spend about an hour with you every day. Both of us are doing something in that hour also. We haven't talked about your life and how you're doing in about 5 years. I feel horrible. Liz, on the other hand, is there for you when you come home and. And now I've thrown Austin into the picture and expect you to just readjust. I can't keep doing this to you. You've grown up with virtually no parents and a babysitter," I sob. Bryn stands up and walks toward me. Wordlessly, she hugs me.

"I'm sorry," I whisper.

"You know that no matter what, you'll always be my mom and I'll always love you right?" She whispers back and I nod.

"Yes sweetie. I love you too." She perched on top of the armrest and I continue. "As far as Austin goes; well it could've gone better but it could've gone a lot worse. I'm sorry I kept it a secret for so long. I was being selfish. Austin said he needed a little time to think all this through. I'll talk to him again Friday or Saturday and I'll tell you guys what we decide to do. Aubryn," I look up from my hands to the girl sitting slightly above me, "Austin asked me to tell you not to take anything he said too personally. He was confused and shocked. Also, I don't think you would, but don't tell anyone about this. I need to know how Austin wants to address this to the media and the rest of the world before you can tell anyone. I'm so sorry I'm making you do something way beyond what an 8th grader should be doing. Now, it's way past your bedtime go on up."

"Goodnight, Mom," she leans down to wrap her arms around me and kiss my cheek.

"Goodnight."

"Night, Aunt Liz," she says while she walks over to give Lizzy a hug.

"Goodnight, Aubryn." Bryn heads toward the stairs and we hear the thumps as she walks upstairs.

Liz starts to talk, "Ally, I want you to know that no matter what happens, I'll always support you. You've done so much and worked so hard to be where you are today. There's not much to talk about until Saturday. You, however, need to follow in your daughter's footsteps and head to bed. I'm going to go home. See you tomorrow," she gets up to hug me, "Bye".

"Bye." Liz lets herself out and I join Bryn upstairs. She's in her bathroom so I walk into my room and get ready for bed. That night, I drift in and out of sleep.

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><p><strong> Chapter 7! I'm sorry it was short. Hopefully I'll get into a regular update mode. By the way... are there any Divergent fans? I cannot wait for the movie. Seriously, if you haven't read the series, I would DEFINITELY recommend reading the books, or at least the first one. The feels! I am now going to go watch Critics and Confidence, so if you'll excuse me, I will leave now... <strong>

**~RM**

**** I reuploaded this because it was all a mess (there were NO spaces) so sorry about that... it should be in a better format now!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey! I'm sorry I have been taking weeks to update but with standardized tests coming up, I've had a lot of studying to do. Sorry!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Austin & Ally.**

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><p><strong>Austin's POV <strong>

After I leave the restaurant, I walk to my car and sit in the front seat stunned. I have a daughter. A person that is half me. And I haven't even known she existed until 30 minutes ago.

I meet my ex-fiancée after fourteen years of looking for her and then two days later she tells me why she left. Because she had a baby. Because she had my baby. I yelled at them and I don't know what to do. I trust Ally enough to know that she didn't have an affair and this Auburn Melody girl is my daughter. Or is it Autumn Marie? Anna Cadence? Aun-. What is her name? I'm usually so good with names and now I can't remember my own daughter's. What was it?

My phone buzzes in my pocket. It's a text from Trish and I breathe a sigh of relief. I need to talk to someone about this and even though Trish isn't the best candidate, she'll do for now. Well, she was best friends with Ally for forever, maybe she will know what to do.

_How's Ally? Did you give her my number?_

I dial Trish up and close my eyes, leaning the back of my head against the headrest, pulling a hand through my blonde hair while I wait for her to answer.

"Austin, what's up?" She picks up.

"Trish, I have a serious problem and I handled it in the completely wrong way," I confess.

"What is this problem?" she prods.

"So, promise not to freak out or get mad or anything?" I ask her knowing it won't matter, she'll get mad; she always does.

I hear a, "Depends," from her end and that's the best I'll get so I start the story.

"So you know I ran into Ally at that restaurant the other night. I gave her my number and we arranged to meet this morning. We met at a little restaurant and talked. It was great in the beginning, we talked and got to re-know each other. But then, someone called her and she started to reprimanded this person before she went out of earshot. So, when she got back I asked her who this person was and she flipped. She ran out - not until after she put down a twenty, in typical Ally fashion - and went to the restaurant we met at - which is where she works by the way. I followed her there and asked her why she freaked out. She tells me why she left the restaurant and Miami," I recap.

"Which is...?" Trish interrupts.

"Well, um... She left because she was uh- she was pregnant," I say.

"The kid's your's right? The Ally I was best friends with would never cheat on anybody. I can't believe she never told me. How could she not tell me? I was her best friend for goodness sakes!" Trish starts talking and I can tell this won't end well.

"Trish!"

"Yeah?"

"I need help. I flew off at Ally and now both my daughter and ex-fiancée think I want nothing to do with them."

"So it's a girl, huh? Well congrats Austin. As far as your problem goes, have you done anything to try to fix it?"

"Yeah, kind of. I told Ally I'd talk to her on Friday or Saturday. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to tell her though. I have a career in Hollywood and Miami and they have a life in Nebraska. Neither of us can uproot ourselves."

"Well, I want to talk to Ally and you obviously need some help with what you got yourself into. Listen, I have a few days off before I have somewhere else to go. I'll fly to Nebraska tomorrow night and we'll talk some. Send me all the info about where you are. And really, Austin? Nebraska?"

"Hey! It's a nice place. Plus, I found Ally, didn't I?" I defend myself and she hangs up. I'm not sure if I want Trish to come here. She might make everything a whole lot harder. But I do need someone to talk to and Ally and Trish should probably reconnect.

I start up my car and head back towards the hotel I'm in. When I get up to my room, I send Trish an email regarding all the information about where I'm staying, etcetera, etcetera. She probably won't even look at it, knowing her. I consider texting Ally but then reject the idea. I doubt she wants to hear from me, plus she's working right now. My phone lights up and for a second I think it's Ally. Except it's not, it's Abbie.

Abbie.

Oh god, Abbie! I don't know what I'll do about her. I haven't even told her I found Ally. Come to think of it, I'm not sure she even knows who Ally is. Have I ever told her? I answer her call reluctantly.

"Hey babe, what's up?" I say casually.

"So, I have some good news," she says excitedly.

"Oh, really? What's that?"

"So I know I said I wouldn't have time in my schedule to come see you, but guess what? One of my meetings that was right in the middle of a three day break got canceled so now I can see you!"

"That's great," I feign enthusiasm, "When are you coming?"

"The meeting was on a Monday, so I'll be there Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. I'll have to fly home Tuesday night."

"Well, I can't wait to see you! Hey, I've got to go now, but I'll talk to you soon."

"Okay, bye Austin. I love you."

"Bye Abbie. Love you too." The last part might have been a lie, I'm not sure.

Abbie's a bit naïve. Unlike Sarah, she thinks that she's the only one I ever loved. Sarah, however, knew that I was - and still am - attached to Ally. And according to Ally, Sarah never liked her. I didn't even know they knew each other.

But back to the topic at hand: what am I supposed to do about Abbie? She will not like knowing I'm associating with my ex-fiancée. Or that I have a kid that's not hers also. Abbie can be pretty possessive of me. To make matters worse, she's coming here. Here has Ally and my daughter and Trish soon enough. Abbie and Trish never really took well to each other. I'm pretty sure it's Trish's fault though, because she didn't like Sarah either and I think it's because she missed Ally and I together. She and Dez were both big supporters of the "Auslly" relationship.

It's only 5 so I go ahead and take a shower and get ready to go downstairs to eat dinner at the fancy restaurant attached to this hotel. I'm not too hungry but I should probably eat something.

I'm done with dinner at eight and even though I'm on break, I go ahead and get some work done. My email inbox is completely full so I spend the next hour and a half sorting through them. To my surprise, Trish actually looked at the email I sent her and sent me one regarding her trip info for tomorrow night. She'll arrive at 8, she booked a room in the same hotel I'm at, and she'll stay until Monday. Between Abbie and Trish, it looks like I'll be having some company for the next 6 days. Maybe I should invite Dez too.

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><p><strong>Aubryn's POV<strong>

"Bryn, honey, wake up. I've got scones waiting in the kitchen. I've let you sleep in a bit since you stayed up late. Do you want to go to school? Or would you rather me call the school to say you're sick? I understand if you'd like me too. Aubryn?" I wake up to my mom nudging me awake.

"No mom, I need to go. I got through school knowing yesterday, same with today. Thanks for letting me sleep in and also for making breakfast." I answer her and promptly roll towards the wall.

"Aubryn," my mom scolds jokingly, "Get dressed. I'll drive you, but you need to hurry."

"Okay," I moan. I roll over and onto the ground, indicating my reluctance. Mom laughs on her way out of my room. She shuts the door and I stand up. My jeans are laying on the floor where I threw them last night. I pull them on and enter my closet to find a sweatshirt. On the hangers, in between a burgundy oversized cardigan and a solid black sweatshirt, hangs a white sweater with navy blue stripes. I throw it on top of a navy blue, sleeveless, flowing shirt. My hair is in a tangled, damp bun from my shower last night, so I decide to leave it the way it is until after breakfast.

The slap of my bare feet skipping stairs echoes in the stairwell.

"Again, with the stairs Aubryn. Stop running down them," Mom rebukes me.

"Sorry." My eyes land on a raspberry scone sitting at the bar. I sit down and take a bite. Mom's phone makes a noise, so she grabs it, unlocks it and reads the message. And then sighs. "What?" I ask through a mouthful of food.

"Finish chewing. Did I not teach you anything?" Mom answers. I chew vigorously, swallow, and pull a three year old move by opening my mouth wide to show her it's empty. "Bryn!" She says exasperated. I just smile. "That was," she pauses, takes a deep breath, "Austin," she continues on smoothly, "And he told me he'll meet me tomorrow to talk about this crazy mess I got us into. So, no telling anyone, for sure, until after he tells me what he wants the public to know. I'm not sure. But no one, not even Hunter, or Penton, or Rylie Cate. Especially not Rylie Cate, can know." I smile at Rylie Cate.

"I won't tell anyone. Don't want to make him any more mad than he already is at me!" I say sarcastically.

"Aubryn...," Mom warns.

"It's fine Mom. He wants the celebrity lifestyle? Give him the celebrity lifestyle. Leave his ex-fiancée and daughter in the past. Thank you for breakfast. I think I'll just take the bus." I run upstairs, leaving my breakfast virtually untouched, tears pricking my eyes. I may put up a brave front for my mother, but this is hurting me more than I even let myself believe. Not able to afford to cry, I angrily swipe at the tears and enter my bedroom. I pull the elastic securing my hair out and brush the damp, tangled mess angrily. With no time left, I pull it into a ponytail and quickly brush my teeth. While brushing, I race around my room packing my backpack singlehandedly and finding my navy blue Chuck Taylors. I don't bother with makeup, I rarely do anyhow. My shoes find their way to my feet, and my bag to my shoulder. Flying down the stairs, I yell "bye" to my mom, not even bothering to hug her.

The bus is just pulling around the corner and I sprint. I get on and find a seat in front of Penton. Rylie and Hunter have a later stop and they'll join us then. Penton flashes me a perfect smile, and I smile back. "Hey," I say quietly.

"Hey Bryn," he responds. He inspects me and I shrink back. "I'm not going to hurt you! What's wrong? You're never like this," he observes worriedly.

I raise an eyebrow, a skill I've worked hard on. "This?"

"Yeah. You're always so loud and outgoing. You're never this self conscious. I look at you and you act like I'm a kidnapper. Plus it appears that you are suffering from fatigue," he explains.

"Anything else Dr. Butler?" I ask sarcastically.

"And there's a bit of the Bryn I know!" He declares satisfactorily.

I smile and then explain seriously, "No, a lot's been going on. I haven't been sleeping well this whole week. I don't know what exactly to do. I really, really, really want to talk to someone about it but my mom won't let me."

He nods compassionately. "If you ever want to talk about it, I'll be happy to listen. Sometimes you just need to talk to someone and not be interrupted," he offers sweetly.

"And now you're a shrink!" He just laughs and the bus stops. The doors open and on come Rylie and Hunter ignoring each other. Rylie's wearing a pink, navy blue and white skirt with a white shirt. The skirt has alternating blue and pink waves with little whales on it. And she looks fabulous.

"Mark my words," I whisper to Penton, "They will get married." He chuckles and nods. Rylie plops down next to me and Hunter does the same behind her. "What's wrong?" I ask her in a teasing, lilting voice.

Penton must've asked the same question because Hunter starts complaining, "And then she tells me that the stupid little sea things on her skirt were not whales."

"I did not. All I did was say they have a freedom to not be classified solely as whales. Maybe they're dolphins that resemble whales," Rylie interjects. Pen and I share a look and I groan. These two never fight about anything worth the time of day. They keep bickering and I stare out the window. The bus pulls into the parking lot and everyone stands up to jostle their way off. Rylie and Hunter have gone back to ignoring each other and Penton's texting someone.

Everyone gets off in a somewhat orderly fashion and then people start to peel off the big group traveling to the gym to go to teacher's rooms or the band room or somewhere other than the gym. The four of us walk up to the middle of the bleachers and sit down in a line. Everyone resumes their previous activities so I take the 20 minutes before we're dismissed to our lockers to think.

I'm not sure if I'm mad, sad, happy or disappointed. And I don't know who my feelings should be directed towards. Part of me is happy: I have a father, Austin Moon to be more specific. I'm also mad at Austin because of how rude he was to my mother. Except, I also have mixed emotions about my mom. She made a mistake and now I'm being roped into it. I'm mad at her for that. I'm happy though that she finally told him, even if she was being forced to admit it. I try to hide all of my emotions around mom and Aunt Liz because I don't want to burden them anymore than they already are. Aunt Liz is trying to help Mom and Mom is dealing with all this. I've got no one to talk to. I can't tell anyone about this. The three people that know, Austin, Aunt Liz, and Mom are all out of the picture. What should I be feeling?

My thoughts are interrupted by a tap on my shoulder, "Are you sure you're okay Bryn?" Penton asks, worry etched into his features.

"No, I'm not. I'm so stressed and lost and I don't know what to do and..." I trail off. I can't tell him this stuff. He puts his arm over my shoulder and I lean my head into his shoulder, a totally friendly gesture. Right? "I'm sorry," I apologize.

"It's fine Bryn," he reassures me, "If you want to talk about it, I'm here, although I doubt you want to talk to a guy about it," he grins and I smile.

"Thanks."

"Anytime." We sit with his arm around me until the teacher in charge dismisses the 8th graders. I like Pen and the feeling's mutual. We aren't going out, but we probably will in high school. No one else really knows about "us", but I'm pretty sure Rylie suspects something. If she tries to bring it up, I can always reverse the tables and talk about her and Hunter. Pen and I and just about everyone else in the world see how perfect they are together, even if they fight 24/7. I think it's just the way they try to avoid the obvious chemistry they have.

Rylie and Hunter have forgiven each other and now they're talking about who knows what as we walk towards the gym's exit. The boys head to the right and Ry and I go to the left to our lockers. I twist in my combination and gather the materials I need for the first few classes. Since Rylie and I don't have Homeroom together, I don't bother waiting for her. The warning bell rings so I step up the pace. Mrs. Flowers nods curtly at me when I walk into the room. I'm not sure what her problem is but she doesn't like anyone, except maybe Rylie. Everyone loves Rylie.

It takes all my willpower to not fall asleep during the morning classes. I stayed up late last night, and all the nights previous, tossing and turning, trying to make sense of all that's happened this past week. At lunch time, Rylie sits opposite from me which means one of the boys will sit next to me. I feel a small flutter of excitement at the prospect of sitting next to Penton. When the boys walk over, Pen sets his lunch tray down next to me and tries to steal a brownie out of Ry's lunch box. She swats his hand away, so he goes rummaging through mine. He triumphantly holds up a cookie and smiles questioningly at me. I just nod my head and when I do, his smile drops.

"Hey? Seriously. If you're going to give me your cookie, something pretty big's wrong," he says quietly. I smile feebly at the fact that he rates people's moods based on their food-giving. "Bryn, I know you said you couldn't tell me what's wrong, but if you're tired, you should go to the nurse's. She'll let you sleep. Or maybe even go home if you fake being sick well-enough," he tries to give me some advice.

"You think I have to fake? I may not have a fever but I'm definitely sick," I moan, "And I can't go home, my mom can't be bothered right now." Rylie and Hunter laugh at something on her phone, not noticing my conversation with Pen. I've eaten half of my sandwich, but left everything else untouched. That means I've had about zilch in the eating department today. Somehow, while we were talking, Penton managed to eat almost his entire lunch. He stands up and motions for me to follow. Rylie and Hunter look up simultaneously and Penton tells them, "Be right back," so the other two shrug and look back at the phone. Pen grabs my wrist in one hand, his tray in the other and pulls me towards the trashcan. At the last minute, I grab my lunchbox. He deposits his leftover food in the trashcan and his tray in the designated spot. We head for the exit and a teacher stops us. Neither Pen nor l have her for a teacher, so I'm interested in seeing how he smooth talks us out of this. "

Where are you two going?" She asks.

Penton smiles, "Aubryn here needs to go to the nurse and I need to go to the bathroom. So, in effect, we're killing two birds with one stone." I nod feebly, where'd he get that? She looks at us skeptically. What does she think we're going to do? Have a lengthy make out session behind the school building or something? Eventually she nods. "Thank you," Pen says and I nod my head in agreement. She moves aside and Pen drags me in the direction of the nurses office. But that's not where we go. In a long hallway with no classrooms along the walls, he stops. "Tell me what's wrong, Bryn. I don't care if your mom won't let you, you obviously need to talk about it," he starts, a little forcefully.

"But-" I falter.

"Bryn," he says softer this time.

"Okay, but you can't tell anyone. I mean anyone. Not Hunter or Rylie or anyone. I trust you, Pen. I hope you realize that," I consent, knowing this just might be the worst decision I have ever made. I slide down the lockers and sit on the ground with my knees bent and my hands clasped over them. Penton mirrors my actions and we both stare straight ahead as I start. "I found out who my father is yesterday. And he found out he has a daughter," I wait for Pen's reaction.

"Yeah? Who?"

"Here's the main reason you can't tell anyone I told you this," I say, "My father is Austin Moon. He can't afford to have information that he has a daughter come out. It will ruin his reputation," my eyes well up with tears and I blink them back and take a deep breath. "Anyhow, my mom left him when she found out she was pregnant because she didn't want to harm his career. They were engaged, did you know that? Engaged. Yet she still left him. And I'm so confused right now. I haven't been able to sleep this past week because of this. I don't know if I should be angry or happy or placid. I mean I'm mad at my mom right now. How could she just leave him? She probably thought she was being selfless but in reality? It was pretty selfish. She probably didn't think how I would feel being raised without a father when all these kids around me had one. Now I'm probably being the selfish one. There were probably some good reasons as to why she left. I'm happy I have a dad now, but what if he never wants to see me again? I'll have to live with knowing who my father is and seeing him move on and marry what's-her-face and start the perfect family and leave my mom and I behind," I sob. Somewhere in the middle of my speech, I started to cry and I didn't try to stop the tears. They fall and Penton puts his arm around me like he did in the gym this morning except this time he pulls me to him and I rest my head on his chest. I let the tears fall for a few more minutes before they resign into small hiccups.

Down the hall, we hear students being dismissed from the lunch room. Penton stands up and easily lifts me up too. He fits his hand into mine and leads me towards the girls bathroom.

"Go splash some water on your face," he tells me. I nod and walk into the bathroom. The face in the mirror is not a pretty sight. My eyes are bloodshot and my cheeks have tear stains on them. My hair is also a mess from leaning on Pen. There isn't much I can do to freshen up my appearance, but I do my best. I let my hair fall loose and brush it out with my fingers before tying it back up in a ponytail. I turn the faucet on and wet some paper towels I grabbed. The damp paper comes in contact to my skin and I start to rub away the tears. The face staring back at me looks slightly better, my eyes only faintly red now and the tear streaks gone. I smile slightly and the reflection does the same, not looking too depressed.

Standing outside the door to the bathroom is Penton. He smiles when I exit. "Feeling better?" He asks.

"Yeah," I answer.

"You certainly look better," he jokes. I laugh and lightly slap his arm.

"Thank you. You know, for listening and everything and being here for me when no one else really is," I tell him.

"Anytime, Bryn. You'd do the same. And I promise I won't tell anyone. Let's go to the nurse, she'll probably let you sleep," he responds. He seems so genuinely concerned for my wellbeing, and it makes me happy to know someone cares about me. On a sudden impulse, I wrap my arms around his torso and hug him. He doesn't move for a second and then responds by putting his arms on my back, hugging me back. Neither of us say anything, but we break apart when the sound of loud, chattering voices fill the hallways. We finish our trek towards the nurse's. Pen deposits me off with a, "I'll text you later." The nurse isn't one of those scary people sometimes depicted in movies and books. She lets me lay down and soon I'm in a dreamless sleep.

I'm nudged awake by Rylie and I open my eyes to see my three friends staring down at me.

"The bell's about to ring," Rylie informs me.

"Thanks," I reply, getting up. The nurse nods at me and then the four of us head towards my locker.

"Pen told us why you were in the nurse's office," says Hunter. I sharply turn my head towards Penton. He said he wouldn't tell!

"He did, did he?" I ask casually.

"Yeah, he said you had something coming up that was a surprise that's been stressing you out," Rylie chimes in and I breathe a sigh of relief. He didn't tell. I look questioningly at Penton. How am I supposed to explain what this so called surprise is when there is none? He mouths, "I'll explain later." By now we've arrived at my locker and I grab my things.

Rylie slides her bag off her shoulder. "Here, I got your stuff from where you left it in Spanish. And there's no homework in Social Studies or Science. I got you the worksheet from Spanish though. It's in your main binder," she pulls my binders from her bag as she talks.

"Thanks," I say and then the bell rings. Doors open up and down the hall and students flock into the once quiet, empty hallway. I put my lunchbox into my backpack and zip it up, while Hunter shuts my locker. The four of us make our way outside. Rylie gets on the bus with me and Penton and Hunter get into Mrs. Butler's car. They must be doing something together today. I walk down the aisle and set my stuff on the ground under a seat before sitting down. Rylie does the same.

"So tell me, what's the surprise? Maybe I can help you," she asks as the bus starts up and slowly inches towards the exit of the school parking lot.

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise," I answer and she groans in frustration. The truth is there's no surprise but Pen better have one up his sleeve.

"Please, please, please?" Rylie begs. I shake my head, firm in my answer.

"Maybe I'll tell you Monday, depends," I consent slightly.

"Depends on what?" She asks.

"Stuff."

"What is stuff supposed to mean?" She air quotes 'stuff'.

"You know, stuff," I respond smiling.

"You're impossible, you know that Bryn?" I just laugh.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you! You know Trish de La Rosa? Well she's coming to visit Austin Moon and an old friend while he's here! Can you believe it? My two favorite celebrities in one place, 20 minutes away!' My smile disappears immediately, but Rylie doesn't notice. I totally forgot about my problem with my 'family' until she reminded me.

"That's great, maybe you'll see them Ry," I say.

"I hope so," she gushes. Because the bus route is flipped from the morning in the afternoon, I get off the bus before Rylie Cate. We round the corner and the bus starts to stop. I gather my bag and stand up and Rylie moves her knees to the side to let me pass. "Bye," I say.

"Talk to you later!" I get off the bus and walk up the hill towards my house. I push open the front door and drop my stuff. Aunt Liz is sitting on a barstool in the kitchen scrolling through her phone.

"Hi," I say.

She looks up. "Oh, hey Bryn! How was your day?"

"Good," I respond. I grab two banana chocolate chip muffins from the counter, the lack of food finally getting to me. Aunt Liz hops down from the chair - she's a little small - and walks around the counter towards the fridge.

"Care to elaborate?"

"Nope," I respond, my mouth full of muffin.

"Bryn," she reprimands.

"Ugh, you're just as bad as mom!" I complain.

"Speaking of your mom, do you feel like I take care of you more than Ally does? I just want to know your opinion, I won't tell her if you don't want me to," she asks gently, changing the subject to something I don't want to talk about.

"No," I clip my answer. When I realize how I spoke to her, I change my answer. "You're like a second mom but Ally Dawson will always be my true mom. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a lot of homework to do," I say, doing my best to signify a close to the conversation. I deposit the muffin wrappers in the trashcan and pop the remaining bite of food into my mouth.

"Bryn," she starts and then falters, letting me go. I actually don't have that much homework, I already finished my math worksheet and I'm way past where we need to be in the book in English. The only thing to do is that Spanish worksheet. Hopefully we didn't learn anything new. Since I don't have too much to do for homework, I decide to continue my nap. I set my phone alarm for 5:30 and start to drift off.

* * *

><p>I awake to music. Groggily, I grope around for my phone to shut it off. There's a text from Penton awaiting me.<p>

_Um so about that surprise... Sorry? They wouldn't stop asking me and I had to come up with something. It is a surprise of sorts right? _

I unlock my phone and call him. "Hey Bryn," he answers.

"Hi," I respond.

"Listen, about the surprise, I'm sorry. They just wouldn't shut up! I'll help you figure something out. Heck, maybe you'll be able to tell them the truth," he apologizes exasperated.

"It's fine but you better brainstorm something good. Ry is already begging to help me with it. I told her I might tell her Monday, because my mom's talking to Austin tomorrow and he'll tell her what he wants to go public. But yeah, I guess it was a surprise. Listen, I've got to get on with my homework but I hope to hear some serious surprise plans. Bye Pen," I say.

"Bye Bryn. You won't be disappointed," he promises with a chuckle. We hang up and I get out of bed to start that worksheet. I fly through it and go downstairs to do a chore or two.

"What do you want for dinner, Bryn?" Aunt Liz calls from the kitchen as I work on cleaning the living room.

"Food," I call back.

"Why are you being so vague today? What type of food do you want?" She sighs exasperated.

"Peanut pasta?" I respond hopeful. Aunt Liz can make some wicked Thai dishes. I love her peanut pasta. It's got spaghetti, peanuts, broccoli, chicken and a peanut butter sauce that's just slightly tangy.

"Sure, why not? It should be ready in less than an hour." I smile and finish straightening the couch.

* * *

><p>We finish eating dinner and I clean off the table and put the dishes in the dishwasher. Aunt Liz goes into the family room and turns on the TV. I join her and we sit quietly watching a show. A commercial break comes on and Aunt Liz changes her position slightly to face me better.<p>

"So, about A-" she begins and I interject.

"I don't want to talk Austin Moon. You have enough happening right now anyway."

"Well, I was going to ask about how Ally was this morning. She seemed really agitated and worried when I saw her this afternoon."

"Oh. Umm... She seemed a little nervous because she got a text from Austin but she wasn't agitated. She didn't tell you anything? I don't know then. Sorry," I say and then the show comes back on. We watch the rest and then I go upstairs to take a shower and get ready for bed.

Despite the fact that I've taken two naps today, I fall asleep as soon as my head touches the pillow.

* * *

><p><strong>Ally's POV<strong>

After Bryn leaves for school, I tidy up the house before trying to go over my whirlwind of a week. Aubryn wasn't too happy with Austin this morning. I know this is taking a bigger hit on her than she wants to let on but she can't fool her mother - I'm so thankful that even after the lack of time I spend with her, Bryn still thinks I'm her mother. I'm not sure whether I should push Bryn in the matter of Austin or just let it be. There's not too much I can do until I talk to Austin tomorrow. This talk could decide my and Bryn's future - if we want to be a family or just continue our lives the way they were before this week.

At 10:30 I start getting ready for lunch with Brittany. I'm really worried about her. She's the youngest employee at Five and she's such a sweet, fragile girl. She reminds me of me when I was her age. I mean, she's shy and responsible and she even graduated a year early. Plus, she's one my daughter's, friend's, older sisters. Brittany is Hunter's older sister.

My hair is in it's usual messy bun placed precariously on top of my head. I take it out and start brushing it out so I can curl it. I lightly add some concealer, eyeshadow, mascara, blush, and lipstick. With my hair and makeup done, I pack my work bag - just in case. I put on light pink jeans, a white mid-sleeve scoop neck shirt, a tan, pink, green, and gray infinity scarf, a gray, oversized, knit cardigan, brown calf length boots, and green, pink, and brown dangle earrings.

It's 11:45 so I grab my bag and head towards the diner I'm meeting Britt at. At 11:55 I pull up and head in. Brittany's already sitting at a two-seater table twisting a mug nervously in her hands. I walk towards her and sit down opposite of her.

She looks up and smiles. "Hey, Ally."

"Hey, Britt." We start off with some small talk and then order our lunches. While we wait for the food to arrive, I steer the conversation towards whatever's wrong with her. "So Britt, what's going on?" I prod.

"Well, um... I haven't told anyone else yet, but I'm - What age did you have Aubryn?" She asks quickly.

"Um, I got pregnant when I was 20 and had her when I was 21. Why?" I question her, having a pretty good idea of where this is going and hoping I'm wrong.

"I think I'm pregnant," she says quietly. And I was right.

"And you haven't told anyone yet?"

"No."

"Well, I'll be here and I'm in no place to judge you. I know I had Aubryn when I was a few years older than you, but I was a young mom."

"How did you tell her father. Did he leave you because of her? When did you tell him?"

I gulp. "Um, well, I'm telling you things that only a handful of people know because I hope it will help you. Please don't make me regret this. You can't really tell anybody."

"Okay?" She says, confused.

"Bryn's father didn't leave because I was pregnant. We were happily engaged, we had one of those high school romances. I used to live in Miami and when I found out I was pregnant, I moved here with little to no explanation to him, my friends, or my family," I start.

"Why did you leave if you two were happy and engaged?" Britt interrupts.

"Because I couldn't harm his career. He is a huge role model to so many people and I couldn't harm his reputation and image," I resume.

"So he's famous?"she interrupts again.

"Yes. Anyhow, about how I told him: he only figured out recently, and that was by accident," I say and Britt's eyes widen in realization.

"You're not talking about Austin Moon, are you?" She asks excitedly.

"Yes, I am. But Brittany, you can't tell anybody. At all. Absolutely no one. I shouldn't tell you but I thought it might help."

"Oh. Wow! I won't say anything," She manages.

"Okay. But this isn't about me, this is about you, Britt," I change the conversation back to the major problem.

"Yeah. I'm not sure what to do, Ally! My mom and dad would never approve and I don't know how to tell my boyfriend. It took all my courage to tell you."

"Brittany, I'll help you. You already have some things in your favor. You've graduated already, you have a good job, your boyfriend doesn't have a career that you can harm, and like I said, I'll help you," I do my best to reassure her, trying to add a bit of humor.

"I guess your right," she replies.

"Have you had a doctor's appointment yet?"

"No." Our food arrives and as we continue eating, we talk a little bit more about Britt's situation before we go our separate ways home. "Thank you, Ally," Britt says graciously.

"Anytime." We'll meet again in about an hour at Five, but until then, I don't have anything to do here so I go home to talk to Liz for awhile. I'm worried the entire time though and I think Liz notices something but she doesn't pry.

Once I'm at work, I get through it fairly easily but whenever I look at Brittany, I remember what it was like for me when I was her age: how carefree and happy I was. And then when I was 20 and my whole world fell apart and then remade itself into something completely new. I remember how all my worries about how my future would unfold disappeared completely when I first held my beautiful, little daughter in my arms.

I get home at 11 per usual and Liz and I talk for an hour or so about my meeting with Austin tomorrow. Once she leaves, I get ready for bed and to my surprise, I'm able to sleep much better tonight than any other night this week. I guess I'm not too worried about my meeting with Austin tomorrow.

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><p><strong>Longest chapter! <strong>

**Well, two more people know about Austin and now Britt is pregnant. I would like to say that Britt will just be a little, minor storyline. I'm not sure what Austin will tell Ally at the meeting. What do y'all want him to say?**  
><strong>3 outfits are on the Pinterest page. <strong>

**Please review! **

**Adios.**

**~Reagan M **


	9. Chapter 9

**I DIDN'T READ THROUGH THIS! I'm rushed on time but I said a chapter would be up. I'll do shoutouts etc. in the next chapter. I'm sorry it's short, Aubryn's POV was also supposed to be in this. Next time, I'll edit this chapter and finish it, hopefully within the next week. Again, I'm sorry!**

**~Reagan Maree**

Austin's POV

I scan the crowd coming up the escalator.

I decided to go to the airport and pick up Trish instead of making her get a cab and all that crap. I know, I'm a nice guy.

Three minutes later I see her scowling at the fat, balding man in front of her while tapping her foot impatiently on the metal step. She huffs and scans the crowd, not really looking for anybody. When Trish gets off, she walks toward the exit rapidly, most likely to avoid recognition. I run to catch up and soon fall into step.

"Leave me alone," she says rudely staring straight ahead. I don't listen and continue walking. "I said leave me alone," she repeats with more force and then tilts her head up to see who it is that's irritating her. "Oh, hey Austin," comes the startled reply. "What are you doing here?"  
>"I'm here to pick you up. Why else?"<br>"Thanks," she says barely audible.  
>"What was that?" I tease.<br>"Thanks," she repeats at what would be a 2 on the TV volume spectrum. I let her slide. 

* * *

><p>It's 9 by the time we arrive at the hotel but Trish insists on talking about my situation.<br>"So... About Ally?"  
>"What about her?" I ask knowing exactly what she means.<br>"What are you going to do?"  
>"I'm meeting with her tomorrow. I told you yesterday!"<br>"You did?" She asks dubiously.  
>"Yes." I respond exasperated.<br>"Calm down! What are you going to tell her?"  
>"Umm..." <p>

* * *

><p>Ally POV<p>

I wake up refreshed from sleeping. I actually slept last night despite the fact that I'm meeting Austin today and most likely deciding the course the rest of my life will take.  
>I go downstairs and make a pot of coffee and start on hash browns and eggs for Bryn and I. When they're finally ready and I manage to get Bryn downstairs, we start to eat and the conversation quickly takes a wrong turn into Austinville.<br>"You have that meeting with Austin today?" Bryn notes bitterly.  
>"I do."<br>"What are you even talking to him about? Which holiday he gets to see me for each year? Because, you know, I vote St. Patrick's day. He won't have to spend the day with me since nobody skips work on the leprechauns day. I could just sit in some designer room in his expensive mansion. Maybe I'll even get to meet my stepmom! Ooh, how exciting!"  
>I interrupt her before she can continue. "Aubryn Harmony Dawson. That is enough. I don't care what Austin came off as on Wednesday, he is an adult and you will respect him. I know you've had a hard time with all this crap, but you need to stop sulking about it every time it gets brought up! Regardless of what happens in my meeting, you will be respectful of this man and that is final!"<br>"Fine," she huffs and leaves the room.  
>With a sigh, I lean against the chair and close my eyes. I can't do this forever. I hope Austin will do something reasonable and not give Aubryn an even better reason to hate him.<p>

* * *

><p>After Bryn leaves and I've cleaned the kitchen, I go upstairs to get ready for Austin. I don't want to impress him too much because I want his decision to be real, not just what his mind tells him when he sees me.<br>I do my makeup, making it almost nonexistent and redo the ponytail I slept in. I leave my glasses on and find a pair of pink jeans and a white lace top. Once they're on, I add a floral necklace and gold flower studs and gold bangles.  
>My staple brown purse waits in the foyer with all my essentials along with my engagement ring. I know Austin said I should keep it, but depending on what he says today, I might not want it. Next to the bag are my plain canvas flats and I slip them on. <p>

* * *

><p>Austin and I are meeting at the same restaurant we met at on Wednesday. I step inside and talk to some of my friends that waitress here since I don't see Austin yet. The bell connected to the door rings and a few second later, I feel a tap on my elbow.<br>"Come on," a voice says lowly. He wraps his hand around my arm and pulls me lightly in the direction of the table in the far back. I sit down facing the room because I know Austin wants to face towards the wall where no one can really see him. A waitress walks over but she's waved off by someone else. Someone else meaning -  
>"Trish!" I exclaim happily.<br>"Hey Ally," she responds engulfing me in a hug, "We have a lot to catch up on but right now, you and Bulldozer here need to talk."  
>"Bulldozer?" Austin and I ask together - Austin a little more incredulous than me.<br>"Yeah. I came up with it myself, since Austin seems to bulldoze a good majority of any relationship he can get," she states proudly.  
>"Let's see how long it takes for the tabloids to start using that," I say.<br>Austin chuckles and then motions for Trish to leave.  
>"What? I'm not leaving. Not when something good is about to happen!" Trish exclaims.<br>"Please, Trish? This is kind of important," I beg.  
>"Kind of?" Austin jumps in, "Kind of important? This is my daughter's future being decided."<br>"Your daughter? Sure didnt seem like the case when you told her to shut up and then walked out!" My voice rings throughout the diner and I see all heads turned our direction except for an elderly woman who just spilled her water and her grandson cleaning it up. I sheepishly lower myself down from hovering over Austin.  
>"What do you think your looking at?!" Trish snaps and all heads turn back around. She walks away to a table where she can still see us but is far enough away.<br>"Listen Ally, we're going to get nowhere if we just fight about this. I've talked to Trish and I've made my decision, I hope you'll be able to respect it or we'll figure something else out," Austin says.  
>I nod my head. "Continue."<br>Austin starts, "I'm already splitting my time between Miami and LA. I would hate to make her have to go across the country every three days especially during the school year. But because of this, I'm not able to move here and stay with you two. You'll either have to move-"  
>"I am not moving away from what my daughter and I have here!" I interrupt.<br>Austin nods his head and continues. "I thought you would say something like that. What I was going to say was: or Aubryn spends time with me during school breaks. Either way though, I want joint custody."  
>"Joint custody," I repeat and he nods. "Oh. Um. Well then." I sit for a few minutes trying to think this through.<br>Joint custody means Aubryn isn't completely mine anymore. She'll have to be shipped off to Austin when she's on break. Break is the only time I get to really see her. I'm going to have to change my job to be able to spend more time with her. But who knows who will hire me when the economy's the way it is?  
>"Ally?" Austin interrupts my mental conflict.<br>I tear my eyes from the birds I was staring at while I thought. "Yeah?"  
>"What do you think?"<br>That's a good question. What do I think? Do I want to agree to this? "Um. I really don't want to keep Bryn from you, but I'm not sure if I want to make her go through this."  
>"Why don't we come up with a plan and tell her tonight? Make sure she's okay with it. She's old enough to make her own decisions, isn't she?" He suggests and I agree. "Now, tell me what you don't like about joint custody and me being in her life."<br>I begin, "It's not that I don't want you in her life - I really, really do - it's just that because of work and school, I barely get to see her. Breaks are the only time I get to spend quality time with her and now you'll get her then. I can't just get a new job and rearrange my schedule to allow us to have time together."  
>"Why not?" He asks. "Why not just get a new job that you work during the school day?"<br>"It's not that easy. Not all of us can make money by writing a song about some relationship! Some of us have actually had to work!" I exclaim angrily.  
>"And you think I don't? I work my ass off going across the world, doing what I do!" Austin's voice starts to rise too. I open my mouth to retort but all that comes out is a choked cry. I put my head in my hands and start crying. This is too much at one time and I lashed out. It's not even Austin's fault.<br>"Ally," Austin says in a much softer tone. "Hey, come here."  
>I get up and walk around to the other side of the table and he slides down the booth, making room for me to sit. He wraps his arm around my neck and rubs my arm. "It's okay. You're just under too much pressure," he continues to soothe me. I lay me head on his chest and hiccup.<br>A few minutes later, I've composed myself in the bathroom. I walk out back to Austin and sit across from him. "Sorry," I say. He nods.  
>"Look Ally, let me help you with the expenses. I'll pay for the electricity, water, taxes, all those things. You can try to work something out at the diner to free up some of your evenings." I start to protest. "No 'buts' Ally. I'm going to pay for it. And whenever I have a free chunk of days, I'll come here and visit. And when I know, I'll try to organize my schedule so that I can be in one place while Aubryn has school breaks. That way she won't have to come with me from one place to another. Let's just try this for awhile and see how it goes. Please?" I nod. "Is that a yes?"<br>"Yes." He smiles widely and I do too.  
>"Good."<br>"How much longer will you be here for?" I ask.  
>"At least next Wednesday."<br>"And where are you staying?"  
>"That hotel that's just off the highway. It's right next to the Target. Why?"<br>"If Bryn is okay with it, we've got room for you and even Trish to stay at in our house. But only if it's okay with Bryn. She isn't too happy with you right now."  
>"That doesn't surprise me too much. I certainly came off as a jerk the other night. It would be great if we could crash there for at least one night, though. Let's see how telling Bryn goes and take it from there. Aubryn's probably fine with Trish regardless though right?" He says.<br>"Yeah. One more thing we need to talk about."  
>"What's that?" He asks.<br>"I've been telling Bryn that this conversation will decide whether or not she can tell people that she's your daughter. Keep in mind, she's a very responsible young lady and she won't abuse this."  
>"I'll have to talk to her about it." He responds.<br>"Okay then. Come to my house at around 9. I'll have somebody cover for me at the restaurant tonight."  
>"I'll see you then."<br>"See you then," I agree. I signal Trish over and Austin gets up to go outside. She takes his seat.  
>"Tell me everything." And I start from the day I found out, 14 years ago.<p> 


	10. Chapter 10

**OH MY GOSH IT'S BEEN SO LONG! I'm so incredibly sorry about the 7 month wait. Obviously, I have commitment issues to my attempts at hobbies. I doubt y'all even remember this story. Heck I had to re read it last night to remember what was even happening. Anyhow, I apologize profusely. With fall sports done, hopefully I can get beck on track with this story and actually finish it before I'm 40...**

**Disclaimer: Don't own it or anything for that matter**

Aubryn POV

School today was tough. Between thoughts of the conversation Mom was having with Austin (the one deciding my future without my say in the matter... Yeah that one) and Rylie Cate's constant pestering about the surprise that Penton made up, I was constantly distracted. The fact that I haven't gotten a ton of sleep this past week wasn't really helping either. Hunter was acting the same way so thankfully the attention was taken off my weirdness and directed towards him. When she wasn't bothering me, Ry was bothering Hunter. I've seen those two fight but the yelling match that occurred right after school was one I had never seen between them (I'd seen a similar between Mom and Austin though). Penton and I both had to get involved because Rylie was that close to hitting to Hunter. Something was obviously was on his mind but he didn't say anything about it.

The only good thing that happened was that I got to vent to Penton more. He's been incredibly nice and understanding to my dysfunctional family. After storming out of the house this morning, I got on the bus and plopped down next to him, disrupting our usual seating arrangement. He immediately hugged me, something we've been doing a lot lately, and let me stew quietly, waiting for me to begin my usual rant. We sat like that and talked until Rylie Cate and Hunter's bus stop and I moved up a seat before they got on to avoid suspicion. For the first time in a long time, the two got on the bus not bickering, Rylie on her phone and Hunter quietly observing. Penton tried to start a conversation but Hunter only gave short answers, leaving me to add Hunter to my long list of Everything That Isn't Right In Bryn's World.

By the time the fight had been diffused and we were on the bus, we were all in our own worlds, ignoring the other. I've been thinking a lot about what I want Austin to say and how I want my future to be and I still don't really know what I want. I don't want to see Austin just completely ignore us and forget we exist, living his life with another person who is not my mom. It doesn't help that I would get constant updates from the media because he's, gee I don't know, one of the most popular people in the world. Then again, I don't want him to just live with us and we all pretend like he's always been a part of this family and the last 14 years didn't happen. Besides, he can't just leave his career and come move to Nebraska. But I don't want to uproot my life that I have here with all my friends and Aunt Liz, even if it was to live in a mansion in Hollywood. I mean, Mom has done a good job of making ends meet but I know we don't have too much to spare. I learned from a very young age to be content with what I have and not ask for stuff that I'll only use a few times and then forget about it. Living with Austin, I could have a ton of stuff and never feel the strain. But that's not a good enough reason for me to leave everybody and maybe even Mom. I'm not sure how Mom and Austin's relationship is, if they want to get back together or not. He is dating someone else after all as Rylie has told me so many times. I haven't really said it to anyone, even Penton, but I really want Austin to be in my life and have a father figure. I don't want him to just have me at his house but never be there to talk to me, constantly working or traveling, leaving me under the supervision of a nanny.

"Hey Bryn," Rylie interrupts my thoughts.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah?"

"We're at your stop." I see the driver looking impatiently at me through the mirror. I rush to get up and say a quick bye, muttering an apology to the bus driver as I get off.

* * *

><p>"Hi Bryn," my mom greets me as I walk towards the house. She's seated on one of the chairs on the front porch, opposite of a woman about her age. I know from Rylie that she's Trish de la Rosa.<p>

"Hi Mom," I reply walking up the steps and nod towards Trish.

"Wow, Ally. She looks just like you. Very cute," She tells my mom. "Hi Aubryn, I'm Trish. You might of heard of me; I'm kind of a big deal," she introduces herself and then hugs me. Unsure of what to do, I awkwardly hug back. Thankfully my mom aids me.

"Okay Trish, calm down. You can tell her all about yourself over dinner. Until then-" Mom gets cut off by a phone.

Trish, annoyed, pulls it out. "I'm sorry guys but I have to get this." She walks a few feet before answering and barking into the phone. "WHAT DO YOU WANT NOW? DIDN'T I TELL YOU NOT TO CALL ME? GOD DEZ!"

Mom motions to Trish that we're going inside and she nods in understanding before going back to berating Dez. Mom leads me inside and I waste no time in asking questions.

"Why are you still here? Where's Aunt Liz? What's for dinner? Why is she here? Who is she really? Hunter was acting strange today, was Britt? Who's Dez? I mean I know who he is but how do you all know each other? And most importantly, what did Austin say?"

"Slow down, Bryn. I can't answer everything that fast," she replies smiling. "I'm here because I need to talk to you about everything. That's why Aunt Liz isn't here. Really Aubryn? In the midst of all this you want to know what we're having for dinner? I'll never understand you. What were your other questions?" My mom answers as many as she can.

"Why is Trish here? And how do you know her?" I remind her.

"Trish is here because I wanted to catch up with here. Austin called her to talk to here and she decided to come visit to help us and see me again. Its been nearly 15 years since I last saw her and we've been best friends since before kindergarten. She's Austin's manager you know." She explains.

"And who was she yelling at?" I prod.

"Who Dez? He's Austin's best friend the four of us have all been friends since we were 15. They still work together for Austin. Honestly I'm surprised you don't know anything about these people. Aren't you supposed to be up to date on all the famous drama? Plus aren't you best friends with Rylie Cate? She is obsessed with those three."

"I'm the one asking the questions here!" I answer her and she gives me a warning look. "Sorry. I didn't mean to be disrespectful." She smiles at me and asks me to continue.

"What did Austin tell you? How grim is my future?"

She answers me in the most unhelpful way possible. "He's coming over later tonight for us to talk. Until then, we're going to focus on Trish and -"

"You bet we are. After all, I didn't travel all the way from Miami to help Bulldozer," Trish interrupts as she enters the house. Mom raises an eyebrow and I just look confused. Who is Bulldozer?

"Really Trish?" Mom asks.

"What? I think its a pretty good name and I'm going to keep using it. Oh by the way, Dez says hi. He wants to meet Aubryn soon," she tells Mom distractedly and then looks towards me. "Good luck with that. Dez is quite the person." I smile, still lost at Bulldozer and how I'm supposed to act with Trish. Her personality is just so loud and out there. Similar to her fashion choice. She's famous for _that_?

Mom smiles at the mention of Dez and then goes to the kitchen for dinner. I stand awkwardly by Trish, not sure what to do. She does though because she starts grilling me with questions. Her voice carries and Mom reprimands her, telling me to go get my homework done and for Trish to go to the kitchen with her.

Thankful, I go up the stairs, checking my phone on the way. The group message I have with Rylie, Hunter, and Penton has been busy, with texts from all three. Rylie and Hunter both apologized for their behavior and are now talking with Penton about getting together this weekend. I see quite a few texts asking where I was. I answer apologetically but tell them I have to go. I want to get all my homework done before Austin comes over. I actually have a decent amount today since I was too busy worrying in class to get it done.

* * *

><p>"Aubryn," My mom yells upstairs, "Will you come down and set the table?"<p>

"Yes Ma'am," I call back. I hear Trish comment on my manners and how I obviously didn't get them from Austin. My mom's softer reply is about how manners aren't an inherited trait. Leave it to my mom to correct someone on their inacurateness. She should be a teacher.

After we say grace and begin to eat, Mom asks me to better introduce myself to Trish. I must look like a deer in the headlights because Mom laughs at me and starts for me.

"Well, you enjoy singing and reading and..." She trails off signaling for me to continue talking.

"I enjoy writing also. Um I have three best friends: Hunter, Penton, and Rylie Cate. Rylie Cate is in love with you. You and Austin both are her role models." Pretty soon we're talking about anything and everything and I realize Trish is actually really nice and I can tell she cares about her friends, even this Dez. By the end of dinner, I'm calling her Aunt Trish. When Mom asks if Trish can stay at our house instead of the hotel, I happily oblige, interested to see how this turns out.

Once I clean up the table and kitchen; Mom and Aunt Trish in the living room sipping on wine, still catching up with each other, it's 7:30 and Austin hasn't come. I go back upstairs to finish my English homework and my book. I'm so engrossed in my reading, I don't hear the doorbell ring or mom yell up at me to come downstairs. Instead, I'm brought back to Earth by Austin standing at the doorway to my room, observing my decorations. He clears his throat so I look up, startled.

"Hi," he begins, scratching the back of his neck nervously. I decided that no matter what happens tonight, I would hear him out and try not to be hostile. Seeing how nervous he was, I took pity on him.

"Hi," I answer. "Do you want to come in?"

"Would that be alright?" He questions. I nod and he walks towards my desk, sitting in the white chair, facing me. I move from laying on my bed to sitting upright on it.

"So..." I start.

"So..." he echoes.

"Does Mom want me downstairs?" He shakes his head, in what it appears to be an attempt to clear it. "What?" I ask.

"Sorry. Its just weird to hear Ally called 'Mom' that's all." He answers.

"Oh," I say.

"Yeah," he responds.

"Does she want me downstairs?" I try again.

"Well she did but we decided it might be better if I just talk to you alone first." He shifts nervously on the chair.

"Ok then. What do you want to talk about?"

"Well, your," He pauses, "Mom and I want to talk to about what we think will be the best course of action with you together but I wanted to talk to you a little and get to know you. Not as your dad, just as a friend. Well that's a little weird. View me as you want to I guess but just not as a celebrity. Pretend I'm some normal person."

"Well, my name's Aubryn, I'm 13 and I'm in 8th grade. My favorite color is green and my favorite food is pancakes. Pasta is a close second. Um what else?"

"What are your hobbies?"

"I like to sing and read and write. Mom taught me how to play the piano when I was younger. I still play it occasionally but I like singing more." I keep talking and he smiles and nods sometimes, interjecting every now and then to say something. Slowly, I see a real person, not just a popstar. He genuinely cares. I might not be fully on his side yet and I still remember how he treated my mom and me at the diner but I'm starting to warm up to him.

Conversation turns towards his public image. "Unless things get really out of hand, I'm not going to say anything to the media about you or Ally. Of course the tabloids always turn your actions against you but I'll be taking the brunt of the backlash. You seem like a responsible girl so I'm going to let you say what you want to other people involving me. I trust you know where to draw the line." He tells me and I nod. "And Aubryn?" He asks.

"Yeah?"

"I'm really sorry for how I treated you and your mother the other day. That was completely uncalled for. I'm not going to provide excuses, just know I'm really sorry." I smile at him and relief washes over his face. "Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

"I don't know, it depends on what you and Mom have decided for my future. But there is one thing," he nods, "My friend Rylie Cate is a huge fan. Is there a way you guys could 'coincidentally' meet. It would be great."

"Of course, Aubryn," he answers.

"Thanks. By the way, you can call me Bryn."

"Thank you, Bryn. We should probably be getting downstairs. Its getting late." I agree and he stands up stretching. His t shirt rides up a little bit and I hear an intake of breath. Austin doesn't hear it but I look over to my doorway and see my mom standing there eying the stretch of skin that's been uncovered, exposing his well defined stomach.

"Hi Mom," I say loudly and she jerks her head towards me.

"Oh hey guys! Just wanted to see how you were doing."

"We were just about to come downstairs," Austin tells her smiling and I see her blush. Rolling my eyes, I invite her in and she goes to sit on the window seat. They both face me and I prepare myself for whatever is coming my way.

"Bryn," Mom starts, "I want you to listen to the entire thing before you decide how to react."

"Yes Ma'am."

"Well, I want joint custody. Now because of my job, I can't move here to live with you two. I also don't want to disrupt the life you two have. So for the time being, you will be with me for the majority of your school breaks and a few weeks during the summer. I will try to time my trips and plans around your schedule so I can spend the most amount of time with you and you won't have to constantly travel with me," Austin tells me, "And Ally is free to come join us whenever she has time." He directs that towards her more than me and she smiles and nods.

"And I am going to try to get a different job or change my hours at the restaurant so I can spend more time with you everyday." Mom jumps in. "Also, when Austin isn't too busy, he can stay here and spend some time with us."

So far, this isn't terrible. We continue talking and I'm not told anything truly life altering. I don't have to live out the rest of my childhood without my mother in some mansion in California and I'll get to see Austin. I can tell they're both trying to do the best they can, which I'm truly grateful for.

Its late and Aunt Trish has already fallen asleep in the guest room. Which reminds me of Aunt Liz. We didn't really talk about what will happen with her. For that matter, we didn't touch on a lot of things. Like what Austin's girlfriend will think of this entire thing and what happens when Austin and my mom fall back in love because its going to happen. But we'll talk about that tomorrow. I hear Mom offering to let Austin stay the night as they walk out of my room and leave me to get ready for bed. Austin accepts and asks for some pillows and a blanket for the couch. I wonder how long it will take for them to just forgo the couch...

**So yeah. Chapter 10, 7 months late. Again, I apologize. If you have any ideas for how this story should continue, please review. Also, any recommendations for other fanfics would be much appreciated. I'm getting back into them so let me know which ones y'all like. **

**I make no promises but there will be a new chapter by the end of the month. Your reviews honestly help me update faster because of the ideas y'all provide and plus I know there are people who want me to update. I don't do a "I need this many reviews before I update" type thing but yeah.**

**Thank you guys for bearing with me, it means a lot.**

**~ Reagan Maree **


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys! So I'm back and its been less than a month since I last updated. That is quite an accomplishment for me. :) **

**Anyhow I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own. Nope.**

Ally POV

I awake Saturday morning to the smell of pancakes, which is odd since Aubryn is never awake before me. I throw an oversized cardigan on on top of my cami and go downstairs to investigate. To my surprise, I see Austin facing away from me and towards the stove. A plate of hot pancakes are next to him, dripping in butter and syrup. Quietly, I walk up to stand next to him.  
>"So I see you've found the pancake mix," I start. At the sound of my voice, he jumps a little bit and I laugh quietly.<p>

"Oh hi Ally, I didn't see you there. Yeah it wasn't too hard to find the mix. Oh by the way-" He gets cut off by Aubryn rushing downstairs.

"Are those pancakes? And it's not even Monday!" Aubryn says as she runs downstairs. Austin laughs at her but before he can answer her question, I speak.

"What have I told you about running down the stairs?!" I reprimand exasperated.

"I smelled pancakes!" She defends herself. I smile and let it slide with a(nother) warning.

"Yeah they're right here. But don't eat all of them, I want some too," Austin tells her.

"Thanks, Austin," she takes the plate and sits down at the bar. Through a mouthful of food, she asks, "So what's the plan for today?"

"Aubryn! Have I not taught you anything? You're supposed to be making me look like a great mother in front of Austin," I joke.

"But I don't need to make you look good if you already are," she answers.

"I'm not sure if you're serious or just trying to get out of punishment," I tell her.

"Both." Austin gives her a high five over the bar and I roll my eyes.

"You're not helping either, Mister." He just shrugs. "Anyhow, to answer your question Bryn, I'll probably be working on cleaning the house and I think Aunt Liz is coming over later tonight to meet Trish. Why? Did you have plans?"

"Penton suggested getting together the other night," she answers and I raise my eyebrow and she rushes to continue. "With Rylie Cate and Hunter of course." I nod in approval.

"Well I don't see why you can't. Where are you guys meeting?" I give her my consent.

"We were talking about going to see a movie and maybe get something to eat afterwards. So I guess the movie theater and then the usual hang out. I'll let you know if anything changes."

"What movie are you guys going to see?" Austin asks. I'm not sure if he's trying to be a parent or just curious.

"Um we haven't gotten that far into planning," She answers and then directs her attention to me, "And I'll let you know once we decide. Don't worry, we won't see anything R rated."

"But all the good stuff is R rated," Austin says and I scowl at him.

"Not. Helping." I tell him and swat his arm. Which is incredibly defined. He sees my shocked expression and smirks at me.

"Something wrong, Ally?" He asks innocently. I give him my we'll-talk-later look, one Aubryn knows well.

"Oh, Austin, you're in for it," She tells him.

"Nothing I can't handle," He informs her and she laughs.

"Austin!" I say exasperated. He just smiles and goes back to eating the plate of pancakes he made for himself. "But yes Aubryn, you're allowed to go. Just let me know when you're going to be home. And you will not be watching a R rated movie," I tell her and Austin rolls his eyes.

"I would like you to know that I have been a part of some very good, box office hits that are rated R," He informs me.

"Good for you. Now finish your pancakes," I tell him. "How and when are you getting to the movie theater?" I ask her. "Should I drive you? Or will one of the other moms pick you up?"

"We'll probably see one after lunch. I'll text the other three and see about transportation," She answer.

"If you don't have a ride, I can take you on my way back to my hotel," Austin offers, and to my surprise Bryn accepts his proposition. I guess she has warmed up to him and I smile. Bryn excuses herself and after she places her plate in the dishwasher, goes up to her room. Austin looks at me intently. "What?!" I ask.

"Are you going to eat anything?"

I nod and get out a bowl for my yogurt. Once I've prepared it, I go to sit by Austin at the bar.

"So..." He starts. "What happens now?"

"Well, Bryn doesn't have a break until next month. I'll have to print out a calendar of her school schedule. We'll need to plan when she's at each house and try to plan ahead. Until then, continue doing what you normally do and we'll try to arrange something for her week off. I'm not sure how much longer you plan on being in Nebraska but you're welcome to stay here. Once Trish leaves, you won't have to sleep on the couch. When is Trish leaving?"

"I never know with her. And um I can't really stay here. At least not for the next few nights. Well I mean I could tonight but not after that." He says nervously.

"Why's that?"

"Well, Abbie kind of invited herself here from tomorrow until Tuesday. I mean not here, here. Not like here, your house. Just like here, this town." He looks like he's going to continue to discuss locations but I ignore him. Abbie, may be fiancee Abbie, is coming here. Not like here, here but here like - yeah it really doesn't matter where here, she's still going to be with Austin. Things were starting to look better for the three of us. Bryn was getting along with Austin and Austin wasn't angry at either of us. We even got as far as to settle a reasonable plan that satisfied everybody. But now Abbie is coming. She might ruin it all. Austin might realize that he doesn't want everything that comes along with the two of us and just wants to go back to the perfect California blonde. One who is stable and doesn't have a kid. And what if Austin tells her about me and Bryn and she flips? I don't want her to be mad at me for taking her boyfriend. Austin interrupts my thoughts.

"Ally?" He asks, his perfect features etched with worry.

I smile but it doesn't reach my eyes. "Yeah?"

He notices and gently takes my hand. "Hey, is this about Abbie? Because you don't need to be worried about her. I'll take care of it. She's my girlfriend and my worry, not yours. You can worry about everything else that you need to worry about." I nod and excuse myself to get ready for the day. Once upstairs, I pass the guest room and peek in to see Trish still out cold. I shake my head at her and quietly close the door again. Down the hallway, Bryn's door is cracked open and I hear her quietly singing to her music, her soft voice carrying. She has a truly beautiful voice and I hope one day Austin will get to hear it. If Abbie doesn't ruin this. I continue into my bedroom, trying to have better outlook on what will happen. I want to subtly impress Austin even though I know deep down, I shouldn't be and being in a relationship, Abbie forgotten, with Austin at this point is not a good idea. But I can't help it, I miss him.

I curl my hair loosely and put on a small amount of makeup, nothing too substantial. Austin always told me I look prettier without all the makeup. I settle on wearing yellow skinny jeans that fit nicely and a comfortable blue and white striped shirt that has midlength sleeves. I tuck the shirt semi into my brown belt and pull out my brown wedges in case I go somewhere today. I check the clock on my bedside table and see that it's already 10:30. With one last check in the mirror, I walk back down the hall and nearly bump into Trish. She rubs her eyes grumpily and I apologize. She continues her trek to the bathroom across the hall and I continue towards the stairs and pause by Bryn's room.

"Did you guys finalize your plans?" I ask her after lightly knocking on her door. She turns her music down and finishes her text before answering me.

"Yes we did. We've decided to see The Lorax since the theater is replaying it and Hunter still hasn't seen it. We're all going to meet there. Mrs. Butler offered me a ride but I said I'd go with Austin. Well, I didn't tell her I'd go with Austin, just that I had a ride."

"I'm glad you're getting along with him, Bryn," I tell her.

"He's a nice person, Mom. He's really trying. Plus he knows some famous people," She grins.

"You better not be leading him on just because he's famous."

"I'm kidding. Although it is an added bonus. Plus everyone will know who I am at school now."

"You sure you want that?"

"Yeah, no. Not really. I'll just let the news get out by itself. But if I wanted it to spread fast, I'll just have to tell Rylie."

"Well it's nice to see you and Austin getting along. I'm going to be downstairs and Trish is awake so tread carefully." She raises an eyebrow at me and nods. Once I leave, she turns her music back up a little and resumes singing quietly.

Downstairs, Austin is on the couch scrolling through his phone. "Do by chance have a charger for my phone?"

"Depends on what your phone is." To answer he holds it up.

"Yeah, it's in my room. I'll be right back."

Back in my room, I grab the charger and my laptop. I might as well do some research.

Once I make it downstairs again, I give Austin the charger and he nods in gratitude, shifting to the other side of the couch to be near the outlet. I set my computer on the coffee table and go into the kitchen to make some tea.

"Would you like anything to drink?" I call.

"Coffee?" He asks hopefully so I make him a single cup serving while warming up the water for my tea in the microwave. I walk slowly back towards the living room, concentrating intently. When he sees me, Austin rushes to get up to help. He grabs the mug that has his coffee and our fingers brush. He has a quiet intake of breath, so subtle, I barely hear it. He thanks me and walks back to the couch.

"There's cream in the fridge if you want some more. I tried not to add too much." I inform.

"This is fine, Ally. Thanks." He reads something on his phone and his eyebrows furrow.

"Anything wrong?" I ask.

"Hmm? Oh it's just PR," He says distractedly but I know there's more to it.

"What about PR?" I ask, worried it might be about Bryn or myself.

"It's just about something that went down last month. Nothing terrible."

Knowing he won't give any more up, I grab my laptop and curl up into the armchair, setting my mug on the table beside me. I power up the laptop and begin to work on finding a little information out. Before I got pregnant, I was studying to become a teacher and was almost done with everything required. In my free time lately, I enrolled in an online course to try to finish and get my degree. I was rewarded a few months ago and I'm now certified to teach. Now that I won't see Aubryn as much during her breaks, I want to change my job hours to be able to spend more time with her. I want to try and find a job I can easily sub at. I email the principals of the local schools trying to see if any of them have any positions they need filled.

Around my third email, Austin gets up and walks outside onto the back porch. I watch him as he makes a call, growing more and more agitated until he sags with relief. I'm not sure what it is about but I don't think he'll tell me anyhow. Before I can dwell too much on it, Trish comes downstairs and welcomes herself to some yogurt.

"Sure Trish, have whatever you want," I tell her sarcastically.

"Oh thanks, Ally!" She answers brightly, purposefully ignoring my tone. She comes into the living room and we talk for awhile. Austin is still outside on the phone. A few minutes later, as Trish recounts her story of her latest trouble with Dez, Austin walks in, ending his phone conversation.

"Ok babe, I'll see you tomorrow." She says something and then he answers, "Love you too. Bye." He takes the phone from his ear and ends the call.

"Hey, Trish. Took you long enough to get up," He addresses her. She retorts but I don't pay attention, still on the part of his conversation I heard. The "Love you too" part. Unless I just cannot, for the life of me, deduce anything, he was talking to Abbie. It saddens me that he talks to her the same way he used to talk to me. I know it's not my place to say anything and I gave up my right to do so when I left him, but it still hurts.

"Alls?" Austin asks, and I realize he's asking to borrow my laptop.

"Hmm? Yeah. Here, just don't exit out of anything I have pulled up." I hand him my computer. I minimize everything, leaving only my background, a picture of Liz, Bryn, and me, taken last year.

He takes it and pulls some page up, showing it to Trish.

"Ooh, that is bad. What are they doing to shoot it down?" She asks. What are they talking about? I voice my question and Trish and Austin exchange a look. It seems like I might get an answer but we are interrupted by my phone ringing. Sighing, I answer the phone and walk towards the kitchen.

"Yeah, Liz?"

"Am I still good to come by and meet Trish tonight?"

"Yeah, of course. I'm sure Trish would love to go out so if that works..." I leave my sentence hanging.

"Yes! I'll come by at around 6?"

"Sounds great." We talk for a few more minutes before we hang up. The clock on the stove alerts me that it's lunch time so I pull out the ingredients and set about making my homemade mac and cheese. While cooking, I hear Austin and Trish worriedly discussing something. They're talking too quietly for me to distinguish their words but occasionally Austin's voice will rise, however he gives nothing away, just displeasure.

20 minutes later, the pot is on low heat over the stove and I go to alert Trish and Austin lunch is ready. Then, I yell up the stairs at Aubryn. Moments later, everyone is gathered on the kitchen and we begin to eat.

"I should probably leave within the next 15 minutes," Aubryn tells Austin.

"I'll be ready," he tells her.

She goes upstairs to get her stuff together and I clear the table. I'm cleaning up the kitchen when Bryn tells me she and Austin are leaving. I go to the front door with them.

"Call me when you get there and update me regularly." I give Bryn a hug and she kisses my cheek and goes out to wait in Austin's car.

"Will you tell me what's wrong?" I ask Austin when it's just the two of us in the threshold of my house.

"Ally, now's not a great time. Sorry." I nod and lean up to give him a hug. "I'll call you soon." He tells me.

When Austin and Bryn leave, I go inside and begin to clean to clear my head. Trish is relaxing on the sofa, tapping away on her phone. She raises her eyebrow at me as I vacuum under her feet but doesn't say anything.

At 4, I am reminded of our evening plans and fill Trish in. She quickly runs upstairs to get ready. We still have two hours but apparently that's not enough for her. I do some laundry and go upstairs to get ready at 5.

I take a relaxing shower and try to keep my mind off of my crazy life. I blow dry my hair and pull it into a simple bun. I put my makeup on a little heavier so as to avoid protest from the girls.

I put on a peach colored dress that is mid thigh length. It has loose ruffles above the waistline. I put on hanging earrings that are dark grey, peach, and gold to match the bracelet I put on. My clutch matches my earrings and the light pink/nude heels I plan on putting on at the last minute.

Aubryn comes home right before Liz gets here and I give her the regular instructions and Trish and I walk out to meet Liz in her car. I introduce each woman to the other and they hit right off, sharing common ground of how impossible it is for me to have a want to get with a man. really I just don't have the heart to move on from Ausitn and it's easier to raise a kid single than try to introduce a boyfriend anyhow.

The night goes by quickly and I surprise myself by having a great time, completely forgetting about Austin. Despite their protests, I get Liz and Trish to leave before midnight and get home.

When we get home, I waste no time in taking off my shoes, sighing in relief once I do. I change into sweatpants and a t shirt, remove my makeup, and put my glasses on and go downstairs to retrieve my laptop.

I cocoon myself under a ton of covers and check my email. Before I do that, I see what Austin and Trish were so worried about.

_Holy crap!_

**So... Another chapter finished. Ally's outfits are on the Pinterest page. Please review and tell me where you want this story to go!**

**As always, thank you for your support and the amount of people that read the last chapter even after I was gone for so long. Once again, I make no promises, but I hope there will be another chapter up before the end of the month. I have my own computer now so it should be a lot easier to update.**

**~Reagan Maree**


	12. Chapter 12

**So I said there would HOPEFULLY be another chapter up by the end of the month and I kind of forgot that I said that... I'm really sorry. But for me, I have 12 minutes until midnight and it's March, so in all technicality, I did get the chapter up before the end of the month. :)**

**I spent a good 30 minutes trying to make a cover for this story but it kept getting cut off so I had to continually remake it and I don't like it as much now but it still works! **

**Anyhow, I have a few things to talk about at the end of the chapter so stick around...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. **

**Aubryn's POV**

Austin and Mom are standing at the threshold talking and then Austin gives her a hug before coming to the car I'm waiting in. He looks a little distracted but I don't say anything about it, still unsure how to act around him. After our conversation last night, I see him as more of a friend than a dad and I don't know if I should talk to him or mom about it. For now, I'll just take things as they get thrown at me.

I send a text to the group saying that I'm on my way and then turn towards Austin.

"So can I tell my friends about you?" I ask. "Or..." And trail off. He turns to look at me and then focuses back on the road.

"I told you last night that it's your decision and to do what you see fit, but right now really wouldn't be the absolute best time to do so as far as it goes for me. Do I turn here?"

"Uh second light on the right and then straight on until I tell you." I say distractedly. "But why isn't this a great time? Did something happen?"

"It's none of your concern Aubryn, you can tell your friends whenever you want, I can handle whatever happens." He says slightly agitated. His phone rings and he pulls it out, checking to see who was calling him. "Not now," he says under his breath and I do my best to look busy, checking my phone to see if anyone texted back.

I have a text from a very distressed Rylie Cate asking if I've seen the new gossip on Austin Moon. What is it this time? I use my data plan and google Austin's name to see what ridiculous thing the tabloids had come up with this time. I click on the first article and start reading. The scary thing is that this isn't a ridiculous story they came up with, it's almost the truth.

"Austin Moon with a new girl? Has he moved on from longtime girlfriend and possible fiancee Abbie Stafford? Austin Moon was spotted out and about with a woman who is not Abbie Stafford. Austin and his new lady friend, who we were unable to identify, were spotted in a small diner in Nebraska, talking over a meal. Austin has been in Nebraska..." Etc, etc. It showed a picture of Austin and my mom together laughing at something he said. There was another picture of them together from earlier in the week.

I texted Rylie back before rereading the article and comparing it with a few others on the internet, all of them saying about the same thing, Austin was with a new girl (which of course immediately means they're dating). This is probably why Austin doesn't want me to tell my friends. It could get out and this will just add more to the story. I can already see the headline now, "Austin Moon has daughter! Mother is mystery lady he was with earlier. She turns out to be Ally Dawson, his ex fiancee from all those years ago!" Or something like that. It would probably be worded better to make it seem even more outrageous. I don't write a gossip column, I can't come up with fake headlines off the top of my head.

"Bye, Abbie." Austin says to his phone and I get brought back to now. He presses end and puts his phone in the cupholder between the seats.

"Turn here," I tell him. He nods and puts on his turn signal, pulling into the correct lane.

He glances at me while waiting to pull into traffic. "So tell me about your friends," he says.

"Um, my friends?" I'm not sure why he's asking. To know who I'd tell about him? He nods at my question and turns right.

"Well, I have three best friends. I'm friends with other people too but I spend the most time with Rylie Cate, Hunter, and Penton. Rylie Cate is the girly one. She looks like she belongs in California. She's really energetic and loves anything fashion related. And you. She really loves you." I tell him and he laughs lightly. "Anyhow, she's pretty popular but she spends time with us instead of the bitchy popular girls."Austin raises his eyebrows. "Don't tell Mom I said that," I plead, "She's really against cursing."

He laughs. "I won't."

"Thank you. As I was saying, Rylie Cate is really loyal and she's the best friend I could ask for. Then there's Hunter. He and ylie Cate have been friends since before they were born. I met them in kindergarten and we've been friends since. He and Rylie Cate constantly fight but they'll date soon enough. They won't admit but they both like each other. Hunter plays football but that's about it. He enjoys watching other sports though. And he dresses well all the time. Our other friend Penton came from Atlanta in third grade and he joined our group. He lives sports. Every one of them, but especially soccer. His life is soccer. He has dirty blonde hair that he always pushes out of his face and hazel eyes and a ton of freckles. He-" I stop when I see Austin looking at me with a teasing smile on his face. "What?"

"Nothing," he says.

"Tell me!"

"When do I turn?"

"Don't change the subject! Why were you looking at me like that?" I ask with somewhat fake annoyance.

"No reason. Where do I turn?" He ignores my request.

"You're impossible, do you know that?"

"Your mom told me that everyday."

"Well, it's true. And you turn left at the next stop. But why were you looking at me like that?"

"You like this Penton kid don't you?"

"What makes you think that?" I ask defensively.

He smirks. "You kept going on about him. You didn't spend that much time explaining either of your other friends." He says. "How he always pushes his hair out of his face and his freckles and-" His voice raises an octave, making fun of me.

"Ok I get it. But we're just friends."

"Bullshit. You like him."

"That doesn't mean we're dating."

"So you do like him?"

"I never said that!"

"But you didn't dispute it." He was right, I didn't disagree with his claim.

"I was just clarifying that we're not dating, I wasn't confirming or disproving that I liked him."

"But you do like him."

"Fine. Yes I do. But we're not dating!"

He smiles triumphantly. " I just wanted you to admit you liked him."

I cross my arms in a sign of annoyance.

"Oh, is Aubryn mad that someone can see through her?" Austin asks in a childish voice.

"Shut up." I was really beginning to regret going with him.

"Is that any way to talk to an adult? Your mom wouldn't be happy to know that's how you talk to your elders."

"Are you saying that your old?"

"No. I'm just saying that I'm an adult."

"Well, you certainly don't act like one." I had the upper hand now and Austin was squirming under me.

"Do to."

I raise my eyebrows in a 'really?' expression. "You just proved my point."

"How away are we?" Austin grumbled.

"No really, I'm enjoying this. Maybe we should take the scenic route instead."

Austin narrows his eyes and I laugh at his behavior.

"It's a few minutes down the road."

"Good. You really are smarter than you let on."

"Are you saying that I don't seem smart?"

"No!" He says defensively.

"Calm down. I'm just giving you a hard time.

"Oh. Well that's not nice."

"I think we established that already." I enjoyed the banter with Austin. He didn't get upset by how I talked to him and he didn't seem like some stereotypical, stuck up famous person. It was nice.

We could see the movie theater now and I pointed it out to him so he'd know where to turn. He nodded and pulled into the parking lot, dropping me by the doors. My friends were already standing outside waiting and I pointed them out to Austin.

"They seem like good people." He said.

"They are," I agreed.

"You let your boyfriend know I'll get onto him if he does anything to hurt you."

I roll my eyes. "For the thirtieth time, he's not my boyfriend."

"Right." He says unbelieving.

I shake my head. "Bye Austin. Thanks for the ride." I say while getting out.

"Bye Bryn. I'll see you soon." And he pulls away. I say hello to my friends but I have a thought in the back of my mind. That's the first time he's called me Bryn. At least to my face. And it makes me happy.

* * *

><p><strong>Austin's POV<strong>

Sunday morning I woke up late. I stayed up late talking to my PR team about what was circulating the internet. And after much deliberation, we decided it would be best to ignore them and be seen with Abbie and not Ally. I was going to pick Abbie up from the airport at 2 and greet her "passionately" to show everyone we were still very much a couple. I had to steer clear of Ally for a while or at least until the rumors were debunked. Ally had called me repeatedly last night and left multiple texts and voicemails. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know that she had found out but I chose to call her today and ignore her messages for the time being.

I had three hours until I had to be at the airport so I decided to call Ally and explain. First though, I took a shower and changed into a pair of black jeans and a white v-neck. On top, I put on a black and white plaid button down but kept it unbuttoned. I had a pair of black converses to put on when I left.

Once I had breakfast from room service, I started to go through all of Ally's messages. I started with her texts, mainly "Austin, answer me!" or "What should I do?" Her voicemails were pretty much the same. I was sitting on the edge of my bed and fell back in frustration, running a hand through my hair. Sighing, I called Ally and waited two rings before she picked up.

"Austin, finally." She was trying to be upset but the relief was evident in her voice.

"Hey, Ally."

"Is this why you were acting so off yesterday? The dating rumors?"

"Yeah. I wasn't sure how to address them or how to tell you and Abbie."

"You lied to me Austin. You told me this was about 'something that went down last month, nothing terrible.' If I remember correctly, us meeting did not go down 'last month,' rather last week. And this seems a little 'terrible' to me. I'm currently in between your relationship and it shouldn't be hard for the media to find out who I am. And then it's all downhill from there."

"Als," I try to calm her down, "It'll be fine. I've already talked to Abbie and PR about it. All I have to do is be seen being couple-y with Abbie and not you. Once it all dies down, things will go back to normal, or as normal as they'll ever be. It will be ok."

"I don't know..." She says unconvinced.

"Leave it to my team, there's yet to be a rumor they haven't straightened out."

"Ok." I can tell she's still on the fence about the matter but is trying to see the best.

"I have to leave for the airport soon, so I'll talk to you later. Bye."

"Bye, Austin."

I wait for Abbie, mirroring my actions from a few days previous when I was waiting for Trish. This entire ordeal has been making me think of my relationship with Abbie and how I really would like to have Ally as my girlfriend. The connection that I once had with Abbie is no longer present in our relationship. However, Ally isn't looking for a relationship. She wants to stay in Nebraska and focus on Aubryn, which is completely understandable and acceptable. But I know I shouldn't lead Abbie on, regardless of whether I have a relationship with Ally or not. Breaking up with Abbie will just add to the rumors already swirling around, which is something I don't need right now. My life is so confusing.

Abbie makes eye contact with me and walks calmly over to me. She's wearing black pants and a loose grey top. She's wearing a large light grey cardigan and has on boots. She completes the look with sunglasses to avoid recognition. When she meets me, I give her a kiss that's not too long but not short either. I hear clicks around us.

"I have more bags at baggage claim." She tells me and I wrap my hand around hers as we walk towards the carousel. The clicks follow us and I pull her closer to me.

5 minutes later, we're in my rental car and on our way back to the hotel. We settle into an exchange of pleasantries and catch up on all that's happened. Well, not _all_ that's happened, just the minor stuff on my side. I know that once we get back, the conversation will take a turn. When I talked to Abbie yesterday, I did my best to explain why I was with Ally, giving her some BS excuse that I met her through Trish and we got to talking about music and spent some time together. Nothing major. She bought it but I felt terrible for lying.

We got back and she settled into my room and then the fun began.

"So I'd like to meet this person that's causing all these rumors." She said, sitting down at the desk, crossing her left leg over right. I choked on the water I was drinking.

"You'd like to meet her? Why exactly?"

"I just want to know. Do you know how I can meet her?"

"Um, yeah. Trish has her number. I'll talk to her."

"Great," she says happily and I think just the opposite. This is not going to end well.

"Who is she exactly?"

"I told you yesterday, I talked to her about music and that's where it ended." I was digging a very deep hole at an alarmingly fast speed.

"What's her name?"

"Ally?" I tried to act like I was having a hard time remembering. I was hoping all the awards I had received throughout the years proved correct.

"Last name?"

"The hell would I know?." A VERY deep hole.

"Do you know what she does?"

"This is Trish's area of expertise, not mine."

"I guess I'll ask her then." Shit. This wasn't supposed to happen.

"Um, I'm not sure if Trish is really in the mood to talk, she's probably busy with one thing or another."

"Ok, remind me later then."

"Of course." Not happening.

"So when can I meet Ally?"

"I already told you, I don't know."

"Well get her number, we can have dinner with her tonight!" She says brightly. Oh joy.

I excuse myself to "call Trish" to "get Ally's number." Abbie smiles and excuses herself to get ready for dinner. She really isn't that smart. I just told her Trish was busy but now I'm calling Trish. Two and two aren't adding up, but in her mind, they are.

"Austin?" Ally answers. "Aren't you with Abbie?"

"Um yes, I am. But she would like to meet you for dinner."

"Why?!"

"I don't know but she does."

"Well tell her I'm busy tonight and every other night this week."

"She'll find a way around it," I warn.

"Well in that case, I'm busy every moment of every day. There is no way meeting her and lying to her face."

"Too late for that." I mutter.

"What?" And I can tell she heard me and wasn't just asking me to speak louder.

"You weren't supposed to hear that."

"Well, I did. What have you told her?" She asks upset. So I tell her my story.

"Excellent job, Moon." She says when I finish.

"Thank you." I respond and I can practically hear her roll her eyes. "Will you tell Trish everything and have her call me later tonight?" I ask.

"Sure."

"Thanks, Ally. I'll talk to you soon. Bye."

"Bye."

I hang up and walk back inside from the balcony I was standing on. Abbie is in the bathroom touching up her makeup when I walk in to tell her of the "bad news."

"Ally can't make it." I tell her.

Her eyes meet mine in the mirror. "That's a shame. We'll have to try for tomorrow."

"She told me she's really busy this entire week, but she's really sorry she can't meet you."

"Oh, that's too bad." She replies and walks out into the room.

I change into khakis, a navy blue and burgandy gingham button down and a navy blue blazer, with a pair of causal dress shoes.

Upon Abbie's request, I had made a reservation at Five and I was thankful Ally wouldn't be there, since she told me she only worked on the weekdays.

When I walked into the main room, Abbie was scrolling through her phone, most likely on social media. She was wearing a sleeveless, yellow green, kneelength dress with an inch of tan at the bottom and the neckline was tan as well. She had a tan cardigan on and heels to match.

"Ready?" I asked and she nodded.

Dinner passed uneventfully although I did get a few questioning looks from Cordelle. I just shook my head and when we walked out, told her to ask Ally.

A few minutes after we got back to the hotel, Trish called me and I walked back onto the balcony to answer.

"Hey."

"So explain to me why you told Abbie what you did about Ally?" Trish cut to the chase.

"I didn't know what else to tell her!"

"Well once she finds out the truth, there's no telling how she'll react. I knew it was going to be bad already but add on that you lied to her about the entire thing, Austin it's not going to end well for anyone involved, and that includes Ally and Bryn."

"I can't do that to them." I say, realization dawning on me.

"Now you see what I'm talking about."

"What should I do?"

"I don't know. You made the mess, you clean it up."

"Trish, right now, the last thing I need is for you to be like this. I need help and I can't turn to Ally."

"Fine." She consents.

"Thank you."

"I have to go now, but we'll figure something out tomorrow." She says and ends the call.

"Well good bye to you too." I say sarcastically to no one in particular. I lean on the balcony railing and run a hand through my hair.

This was supposed to be my vacation where I was supposed to get a break from everything but I'm more stressed than ever.

**So there we have it. Abbie is in the picture and Austin is on a suicide mission. **

**A couple quick things:**

**Comment and give me ideas. I want to know what you guys want to see!**

**Outfits are on Pinterest.**

**I have started a Wattpad account. If you're interested, I have the same username as I do on here but I had to tack on "sing" onto the end of it since someone else already had my other one. I already have a story idea but I don't think I'll post it until I have the entire thing done so as to avoid the problem I had on here of not updating for who knows how long. **

**Next chapter should be up before St Patrick's day, probably earlier. (fingers crossed)**

**Until next time!**

**~RM**


	13. Chapter 13

**Austin's POV**

After much deliberation and careful thought, I have come to the decision to tell Abbie the truth. I think she deserves to know and I'm not sure what else to do. I've already started on a chain of lies but I know that will go down terribly in the media. Trish and I talked this morning in depth about our course of action and once we did, I called Ally and talked to her. She told me to not worry about her and Bryn. They knew how to fend for themselves and wouldn't worry about it. After all, I wasn't telling the world, just Abbie and it might get out through her, but I had a sliver of hope it wouldn't. I couldn't really say anything though since I told Bryn she could tell anyone she wanted to whenever.

I found Abbie reading on the bed in the hotel room and I settled my nerves.

"Hey Abbie, can we talk?" I ask, sitting on the edge bed. She puts her book aside and looks up at me expectantly.

"I might not have been completely honest with you this past weekend," I confess and she raises her eyebrows.

"Last week I ran into Ally and it wasn't because of Trish. She was working at a restaurant I went to and we met accidentally. The thing is, that wasn't the first time we met. We were best friends when we were teenagers and eventually dated and had plans to get married." I pick at the bedspread, not wanting to meet her eyes and see the heartbreak but I will myself to. But the funny thing was, she didn't look surprised or upset.

"What?" I ask, confused.

"I already knew that," she says simply and I look at her, more confused than ever. This wasn't how this was supposed to go.

She continues, "I know about everything. And that includes your daughter." She doesn't speak with contempt, just in a matter-of-fact way.

"How?"

"I've known about how you dated Ally ever since I met you on set the first time. I called her this morning after you came up with your oh-so-believable story about how you met. She told me the entire story, from start to finish. So next time, don't lie because people always know more than they are willing to let on. But really, great try at a back story," She explains and flashes a teasing smile.

And that's when I realize how good of a person Abbie really is, she's not upset, rather wanting me to be with Ally.

"You're okay with this? The fact that I lied to you and I have a family?"

"Austin, I love you and that means I want to see you be happy with a person that makes you happy. Maybe I don't come off as the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but I know better than to hold you back from someone you truly care about for my own selfish purposes. I could tell you weren't fully in love with me but I tried to push it aside. Now I know I could never be with someone who feels that way. I don't mean that in a wa"

"You deserve better," I say.

"Yes, yes I do," She says with a laugh and then slaps me lightly on the arm. I make a face and throw a pillow at her. She catches it and tosses it back to me.

"Friends?"

"Friends."

* * *

><p>"I'm going to go back home tonight to catch up on some work," Abbie says during dinner.<p>

"You sure?"

"Yeah, it's just a day earlier. Besides, I'm not a big fan of hotel beds. Which is kind of hard since I'm always staying in one."

I nod in agreement. "When's your flight?"

"8. So I should get in about 10 their time." I check my watch, it was a little after 6.

"When are you leaving for the airport? I'll drive you."

"6:30? That should give me enough time. I've already packed."

"I want you to know that I;m not going to tell anybody if you don't want me to," Abbie says once we are in the car. "I'll just say we broke up over differences but we're remaining friends; didn't leave things on a sour note." I nod in agreement.

"Thank you for being so cool about this."

"Oh, trust me, there are _plenty_ of guys who are dying to be with me. Your doing me a favor really, let me get with the hot guys instead of the sub par ones," She says giving me a pointed once over. I just roll my eyes and laugh.

"My six pack is offended," I inform her.

"Oh please, don't be so cocky."

We've never spoken so lightly about each other, in a bantering way like we are right now and I can tell we are better suited as friends. I can tell she feels the same way.

Before walking through security, she leans up and gives me a hug. "Call me if you need help with something, like winning Ally back," she says and then lightly kisses my cheek.

"Bye, Austin."

"Bye, Abbie."

And with that, she disappears into the sea of people. I turn around and head out of the airport, signing a few autographs on the way. Back in the car, I reflect on how today went a lot better than expected. I have one less obstacle and a great new friend. I swing into traffic and head to Ally's house, needing to talk to Trish.

* * *

><p>I pull into Ally's driveway and see a new car parked there, one I assume is Liz's. I get out and knock on the front door, waiting for someone to answer.<p>

"I got it," Bryn yells from inside. Breathless, she opens the door.

"Did you just run down the stairs? Because you know your mom doesn't appreciate that," I scold her teasingly.

She scowls at me and walks out onto the porch, shutting the door behind her. I raise my eyebrows.

"Mom's not here," she says.

"No, really?" I ask sarcastically, causing her to deepen her scowl.

"Then why are you here?"

"I need to talk to Trish."

"Well she's upstairs. But my friends are here; we're working on a project. Do you want me to get her?"

"Did you tell your friends about me?" I ignore her question

"Penton knows, but that was a week ago and he hasn't told anyone else yet. I just needed to talk to someone and he seemed like the best person."

"Ah, so the boyfriend knows?" I get shoved lightly.

"He is not my boyfriend!" She says exasperatedly.

"Who's not your boyfriend?" A dirty blonde says, opening the front door and then stopping when he sees me. "Oh. I didn't realize - I - um, well, Bryn, there's brownies inside. Mr. Moon," he says politely and turns around to go back inside.

"Pen, wait," Aubryn says and he turns around. "Austin, this Penton, Pen, this is Austin Moon," She introduces us and I shake his hand.

"So this is the boyfriend," I mouth at her and she sticks her tongue out at me.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Moon, Bryn's told me a little about you and of course Rylie Cate has talked my ear off about you since I met her," He says.

"Well Bryn's told me a little about you too," I tell him and his eyebrows shoot up.

"She has?"

"Oh yes, she has." I see Bryn looking at me very carefully trying to see where I am going with this. "Like how much of an athlete you are, with soccer and the other sports and how you came from Atlanta, it's a scary place isn't it?"

"Only in certain parts," He says. I see Bryn relax and I know it's time to embarrass her.

"She's also told me about your, shall I say for lack of a better term, affectionate relationship?" I wiggle my eyebrows suggestively and he turns a bright shade of red.

"Austin!" Bryn screams. "I think we're done here. I'll go get Trish. I'm really sorry Pen, we're still working on teaching him how to keep his mouth shut," She says looking at me pointedly and narrowing her eyes at me. Penton just nods.

"No, I think we're just getting started," I answer.

"Actually, I think that's a great idea. Have you met your biggest fan? And better question, do you value your hearing? Because you're about to lose it. Come with me to meet Rylie Cate Anderson," She says brightly and I see Penton laughing quietly. "Follow me."

She takes my hand and pulls me inside, Penton following behind is.

"Hey Ry?" Bryn calls out.

"Yeah?" I hear a reply from upstairs.

"Aubryn Harmony Dawson, what have your mother and I both told you about yelling inside? Because - Oh, Austin! What are you doing here?" Liz turns the corner, chastising Bryn. Before Bryn, can answer, another girl, most likely Rylie Cate, comes down the stairs.

"What do you want, Bryn? I've answered you like three times! OH MY GOD! IT'S AUSTIN MOON! YOU'RE AUSTIN MOON! BRYN, IT'S AUSTIN MOON. HUNTER, COME DOWN HERE AND SEE AUSTIN!" Bryn was right, I don't think I can hear anymore. But I laugh and hug her when she comes shooting over to me.

Another boy, Hunter, I'm assuming comes down the stairs. "God Rylie, calm down," He says tiredly and I see Penton and Bryn exchange worried glances although I'm not sure why.

Bryn walks over to me and Rylie Cate and pries her off me. Rylie Cate starts hyperventilating and asking a bunch of questions without taking a breath.

"Why is there so much yelling?" Trish yells annoyed from upstairs and I see the three others look completely lost. I guess they didn't know that Trish was here.

"Hey, Trish," I call and I get a grumpy reply. I roll my eyes and start upstairs to calm her down and bring her downstairs. "Be careful, there's a girl downstairs that makes really loud noises when excited," I joke.

"You think I didn't hear?" She says seriously.

"Well someone just woke up," I answered annoyed.

"Sorry." And I nod in acceptance.

Rylie Cate starts squealing again and I see Trish groan. I give her a light shove. "Behave." She makes a face at me but I don't back down.

Trish starts talking to her and Bryn pulls me aside.

"Can I tell them?"

"About?"

"You? About how you're my dad?"

"If you want another screaming fest to ensue, be my guest."

She laughs. "You're right."

"Can I quote you on that?"

"No."

"But really though, tell them if you think it's right." I tell her, unsure if I want her to or not.

"I guess I'll wait. Since she'll ask, I'll just tell Ry you were looking for Trish who's friends with my mother. Done. No more details necessary."

I nod approvingly. "You're better at making up back stories than I am."

"What was that?"

"I'll explain later. Maybe."

"Maybe?" She asks.

I nod. With a shrug, she turns her attention back to Rylie and Trish and I took a deep breath, unsure of what to do. Penton walks up to me.

"You know, sir? I would never date your daughter without consent and I know it's still early to date her, we're only in eighth grade. But if we still have feelings for each other, I would like to ask her out in high school."

_My daughter._

I laugh at him, remembering when I was in his same position. "That's very thoughtful of you Penton. But don't feel the need to be all formal with me. And know I was only teasing you out on the porch."

He grins. "Just southern hospitality, Mr. Moon. It's how I was raised."

I give him a slap on the back, "You're going to go places, kid."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. And yes, you may date Aubryn when you two deem the time is correct." Did I just play the role of dad? It leaves me a little confused, but I still feel good about having a new role.

"Thank you, sir."

"At least drop the 'sir'," I tell him.

"Yes sir. I mean-"

I laugh again. "It's fine." He's a good kid.

* * *

><p>After her friends leave, Bryn goes upstairs and I spend the time talking to Trish and filling her in on all that happened with Abbie. Liz sits quietly off to the side, adding in different points every now and then. Eventually we get off topic and start talking about anything and everything and pretty soon, Liz is entertaining us with a hilarious Ally story. Right in the middle, Ally herself walks in and she immediately hits Liz upside the head with a packet of papers in her hand.<p>

"What are those?" I ask.

"I'll tell you in the morning. It's been a long day, I think I'm going to bed. Feel free to crash on the couch, everything you used Friday night is in the closet right there. Liz, I'll talk to you tomorrow, thank you for keeping an eye on the four; you never know what they'll do when they're together." Liz nods and gathers her stuff together and gives Ally a hug before leaving.

Trish and Ally go upstairs and I make a bed on the couch.

* * *

><p><strong>Ally's POV<strong>

Tuesday morning I wake up and go downstairs, starting breakfast for Aubryn. Austin is still asleep on the couch and he looks peaceful, something I haven't seen in a long time. Ever since I saw him at Five, he's been upset about one thing or another and I feel bad that I'm the main cause for that. When I read the headlines about Austin and I on Saturday morning, I wasn't surprised necessarily, more upset that the tabloids had to take that and twist it into something it wasn't. But that's their job and they do it well.

I go upstairs to wake up Aubryn, cinnamon rolls waiting to eaten downstairs. Pretty soon, she's out the door and I'm still the only one awake. I go to my room to change into a pair of jeans and a grey t shirt. I pull my hair into a pnytail and put my contacts in, not bothering with makeup. I can't do too much cleaning since I have a sleeping person on both floors of my house so I settle to going through the papers I was given last night.

I make myself another cup of tea and grab the papers, a pen, and my laptop and sit in my normal oversized chair in the living room, careful not to wake Austin. The papers are for a substitute position at Bryn's old elementary school. The music teacher there, was going on maternity leave until the end of the school year and I was offered the position. I was told by the principal that it was a sort of trial run since the teacher was planning on moving to Ohio to be closer to her family after this school year was finished. It was a perfect opportunity for me and I already talked to Jonathan about it. He said he was more than willing to give me my job back if things fell through.

I read through everything, about school rules and schedules, fundraising and parent organizations, and basically everything else I had read when Bryn went there but I read through it all anyway.

Halfway through, I get a phone call from Liz.

"You didn't call me!" She accuses.

"I'm sorry! I got caught up."

"Well tell me about the papers."

"Oh they're from the school," I start and fill her in. We hang up an hour later, talking about an assortment of events.

I finish the papers and Austin woke up a little while later. After he got food and coffee, joined me in the living room again and we started talking. We talked about Abbie and how I talked to her (I had to; I felt terrible lying to her. She didn't deserve it). We talked about how cool she was with it which was a surprise, I expected a psycho reaction (reading enough of that kind of stuff can get it stuck in your head). He mentioned how he met Bryn's friends last night and their reactions. Then he brought up the topic of the papers and I explained. He congratulated me and pulled me into a hug where we stayed maybe a few seconds too long (not that I'm complaining; it was nice to feel his arms around me and feel safe again).

Trish woke up several hours later and we talked until I realized I still hadn't clean the house. I left them to talk and I started clean. My regular afternoon routine settled into place, just with two more people added in: Liz came and I left, I got to Five and started setting up for the night and the night got underway.

After we closed, Britt pulled me aside to talk to me.

"I went to the doctors the other day," She said.

"Yeah?"

"The baby's fine. It's 10 weeks old."

"That's great."

"Yeah." She said, not sounding like she believed it.

"What's wrong?"

"I haven't told anyone except Hunter and it killed him. He hasn't even made eye contact with me since I told him and he barely talks to anyone. I didn't want to upset him but I don't know what to do."

"Hey, it's okay. He'll come around to it. Just give him some time. He doesn't know what to do." I hadn't seen Hunter that much since Britt told me but I do remember Bryn asking about his behavior.

"If he tells Aubryn anything, will you let me know?"

"Of course. Go on home and get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Thanks, Ally."

"Anytime, Britt."

I finish cleaning up and head home where I find Austin, Trish, and Liz looking at me expectantly.

"What?"

**And we're back! I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter. Austin is starting to embrace fatherhood and Abbie is semi out of the picture. Ally has a new job (maybe) and can spend more time with Bryn. Speaking of Bryn, there's a little addition to the Penton/Bryn relationship.**

***Thanks to everyone who suggested ideas, it really helped! So please continue to review and do that. I want to bring Dez back in sometime soon but I'm unsure of how to do it. Any ideas?**

**I know it's a little odd that Abbie was so cool with everything but I just wasn't feeling like making her some psycho ex girlfriend. So, sorry if y'all were looking for something different. **

**I think that's it for now. I'm getting back into this story so I'm hoping I'll keep my updates fairly often. There will (fingers crossed) be another update before St Patrick's Day. - I'll be working this date for quite a while to make myself feel like I actually accomplish something when I post before it :) **

**~Reagan Maree**


	14. Chapter 14

**And I'm back. Again much later than expected. But finals are over and now I have a ton of time on my hands. **

**Disclaimer: I own nada.**

**Aubryn POV**

"I still can't believe you know Austin Moon! He was in your house, Bryn!" Rylie says for probably the tenth time in the past five minutes. It's been quite a few days since Rylie saw Austin at my house.

"Very observant, Ry," I tell her for also the tenth time in the past five minutes.

"Will you stop saying that?" She asks.

"I could say the same to you."

"Hey girls," Penton says walking up to us with Hunter by his side. Hunter nods to us but he hasn't had a real conversation with me for quite some time. I'm not sure what happened but he's had a complete personality change. I haven't heard a single argument between him and Rylie for quite some time. I never thought I'd say this, but I kind of miss their constant fights.

"Ready for science?" I ask

"Last class before Spring Break!" Rylie chimes in excitedly. "Tell me again, Bryn why you can't come with me to the beach?"

"Family vacation."

"Where?" Penton asks.

"California." I say offhandedly.

Hunter's eyebrows shoot up. "You never go on family vacations, Aubryn. Much less to California," He says.

"He speaks!" Rylie says and Hunter makes a face at her. Rylie returns one and they start bickering.

I'm glad to see that's back to normal.

While they're in their own little world, Penton turns towards me.

"California, huh?"

"Yup," I answer, popping the "p".

"Whey there?"

"I'm going with Austin. It's part of the agreement he and my mom came up with."

"Is she going with y'all?"

"Y'all?" I tease.

"Shut up, I'm southern. Just answer the question," He laughs.

"She's coming up the second half of the week. She couldn't take an entire week of work off."

He nods in understanding.

We all arrive to class just before the bell rings and take our seats, Rylie Cate and Hunter still shooting each other looks.

Penton drapes his arm casually across the back of my chair as Ms. Sumners starts her lesson. I shoot him a curious glance but he just looks intently at the teacher. Slowly, I lean back ever so slightly into my chair and he rests his hand on my shoulder.

I just smile.

Basically, this next week is my first official week with Austin. He and mom sat down with me the other night and explained to me what they had decided to do to make everyone's schedule work together and so I could spend time with both of them. Mom also explained her plan to start teaching - which I'm incredibly excited for her to be able to do.

I go with Austin for as much time as I an during my breaks from school and when she can, Mom comes as well. That's our plan for right now.

So, since Spring Break is coming up, we decided we would test drive it. Austin has to go back to California anyhow for work later next week so we decided to just leave tomorrow and be there for the entire week. Mom is coming on Thursday.

I'm nervous and excited, since I've never been on a plane before and I'm spending time alone with Austin. Trish will be near if she's needed at all but it will just be Austin and I in his house. And any girl that he happens to sleep with on that specific night. But Mom is cracking down on that part. It wasn't very hard to hear that conversation - it was quite loud.

I'm not really worried anything major will happen. I didn't really like Austin when I first met him but now that I've gotten to know him, he's a really nice guy. I don't know if I'll be able to see him as my father but I do want to be able to grow closer to him.

"I'm home," I yell when I walk into the house and swing my backpack onto the ground and then wait cautiously for Aunt Liz to reprimand me for yelling indoors. But no such reprimand comes.

"Hello?" I tentatively call. "Aunt Liz?"

"You know, maybe if we had a dog, I'd be able to know whether or not something was wrong," I say to myself. "But, no. We can't have a dog Bryn. A dog will never work with our schedules. It's not like I'm never here or anything but you always are. Surely not," I continue on and imitate my mother sarcastically. "You don't need someone to spend time with since you're an only child and I'm never here so instead you can wallow in your self misery." I would have continued on had someone not awkwardly cleared their throat from the kitchen.

"Hello, Bryn. How are you? How was school? The nonexistent dog is pleased to see you," Austin says, laughing.

"Well, hello Austin," I respond annoyed. "I'm glad the dog is happy. What's his name again? Austin's a jerk?"

"That's not exactly a name. Besides, I was thinking more of 'Imaginary' anyhow. Really fits him, don't you think?" He answers.

"Oh, so it's a him? When was that decided?"

"It was unanimous."

"With one person voting?"

"Yeah, you barely missed the voting period. I'm really sorry."

"You sound like you are."

"Incredibly."

"Mhmm. And where exactly is Aunt Liz?"

"She couldn't come today so your mom asked if I could be here when you got home. I had nothing better to do -"

"So I rank at the bottom of your "Better Things To Do" list?" I tease.

"Yup. That's about right. I had literally nothing else to do. Plus I checked out of my hotel this morning since I was already going to be here for the night. So, with much inner conflict and turmoil, I told Ally I would take on the daunting task of being at a house and waiting."

"So selfless of you," I say sarcastically.

"The things I do."

"Well, I need to finish packing for next week, so I'll be in my room if you need me. When do we leave tomorrow?"

"Excellent question that I do not know the answer to. It's somewhere, I'm just too much of a procrastinator to find it."

"Like father, like daughter," I say quietly and walk upstairs smiling.

Maybe I can see Austin as my father.

**Austin POV**

"Food?" I yell up the stairs to Bryn.

"Such as?" She yells back down.

"I don't know. Takeout?"

"Mom would kill you."

"So don't tell her."

"Chinese?" She asks hopefully.

"Sure. Is there a menu anywhere?"

"Just Google it. She throws those out before they even make it past the threshold of this house."

25 minutes later, we have hot plastic containers of Chinese food sitting in front of us.

"Are you ready for California?" I ask her as we bite into the food.

"I'm not sure."

"You'll love it. There's so much to do there. You won't be wishing you had a dog to keep you company because you're always so bored."

She sticks her tongue out at me.

"I'm not going to let you forget about that one anytime soon," I tell her.

"Joy." The sarcasm is radiating off of her.

"Oh it's extremely joyful. Speaking of joyful, actually this has nothing to do with joy but did your mom go over all of her rules with you about this trip?"

"Be respectful, behave yourself, clean up after yourself, have a good attitude, don't get sunburned, check with Austin before you do anything, never go out by yourself, wear sunglasses and a hat or something to somewhat disguise yourself when you're out and about with him... um what else? Be a good guest, get your homework done, Trish will be right around the corner if you need anything, call me if you need to talk" She lists off in a bored tone. "Now didn't you have some rules as well?" She asks amused.

I do, actually. It's unfortunate that I'm in my thirties but still have to have rules like this like a child. I mean I understand them, but Ally really didn't have to go over them like I was actually considering going to a bar or a club or having a random girl in my house when Bryn was under the same roof. I know I'm a bachelor and all that crap but I really wouldn't consider doing something like that to Bryn or Ally. Besides, now that Ally is back in the picture, I'm not interested in a different girl.

"Yes, I do but I already was going to follow them."

"As was I."

"Well great. Now that we both know we will follow the rules, we can have a good time."

"Great," She echoes.

It's eleven when Ally gets home and Bryn's been upstairs for a little while now.]

"Hey," I tell her, laying on the couch lazily.

"Hi," she says exhausted, putting her purse on the table and sliding off her shoes. "How was your evening?"

"Pretty calm. Bryn and I had some good conversations."

"That's good. I'm glad you too are getting along."

"Me too. How was your evening?"

"It was busy, but not as crazy as it has been other times."

She disappears upstairs and I get the blankets out of the closet and set them aside.

She appears again in a tank top and sweatpants with her hair in a bun and glasses on her makeup-less face. And she looks just as beautiful as she always has.

I pat the seat next to me on the couch. We've had many conversations to get caught up with each other in the past few weeks and this time we get into a steady flow about random things. We talk as if there hasn't been a 15 year gap between now and the last time we saw each other. There's no catching up anymore, just playful banter between the two of us.

Sometime during the conversation, Ally had moved from leaning into the back of the couch to leaning on my shoulder and sometime after that, I moved my arm around her and began drawing little patterns onto her arm.

We were sitting in contented silence when she looked up at me.

"What?" I asked her but I was cut off when her lips touched mine.

She pulled back quickly. "I'm sorry. Everything just brought me back to how it used to be and-"

This time, I cut her off. I leaned down and kissed her. I missed this. I missed her.

Everything faded away until it was just her and I and we were teenagers again without a care in the world. Her lips fit perfectly with mine like they always had and the passion had never faded away. All of the hurt we had felt in those 15 years was erased because we were together again with the other for support.

I shifted so she was laying on top of me.

She took off her glasses and replaced her hands in my hair, pulling at it lightly as I deepened the kiss.

I began to kiss down her jawline and then her neck, careful not leave any marks.

"Austin," She said quietly.

"Hmm?" I continued kissing.

"Come on," She grabbed my hand and led me upstairs to her room.

She kissed me one final time before laying down and I laid down beside her and held her, everything returning to how it used to be and for the first time in a long time, I fell asleep happy and not worried.

**Okay so this was a pretty bad chapter but I really don't know what else to do at this point. This story will probably be wrapping up shortly. If there's anything you guys want to see wrapped up, let me know because I might look over something and forget about it...**

**Comment and give me ideas! Again, I'm sorry for the terrible quality and shortness!**

**Reagan**


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